Hanging By A Thread
by Bluetech
Summary: "Am I mad at you? That's your main concern after shattering my whole world? Mad for what? Breaking my heart? For all the pain? For letting me put all my trust in you, only to be betrayed? Am I mad at you? How about crushed? Did I ever really know you?"
1. Just You And Me

**A/N: And... my Fanfiction progression is complete!**

**This is my first M-Rated story, and needless to say, I had a lot of fun writing it.**

**Let me tell you, being able to write something more advanced than T-Rated child's play, is a welcome change of pace.**

***Disclaimer: I own none of the characters/locations/ideas of Rio. I wish I could, but I don't. I am merely borrowing them.***

**Well, the good stuff is down below, so I'll shut up.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Just You And Me<strong>

The inevitable sunrise cast its light upon Rio de Janeiro, driving away the chilled cloak of night and blotting out the stars.

Each sunrise harbored its own unique facet of beauty, and thus a "normal sunrise" was few and far between for the multitude of creatures who resided here. Each one heralded the start of a new day, a new chance to appreciate the beauty of life.

For the pair of macaws sleeping in the towering cannonball tree they had long since called home, this revelation was held most dearly. They were sleeping side by side in a carefully constructed nest, and their position allowed them to be quietly awakened by the kiss of the sun. They blinked open their eyes and turned to each other, alert and pleasantly rested.

"Good morning, my love-hawk."

"Good morning, my angel."

They climbed from the nest and stretched their wings, basking in the warm heat of the young sunshine. Jewel made her way over to the edge of their home, and her husband was not far behind.

She peered out at the dazzling jungle and sighed; even though she had spent her entire life here, she was routinely awed by the natural splendor of the jungle.

"It's such a perfect, wonderful day. I don't know how I could ever imagine living somewhere else..."

Her mate sidled up beside her and replied, "Minnesota was attractive in its own special way, honey. Still, this day just wouldn't be perfect without_you..._"

"Why do you like to talk so sweet to me? "

"Because you deserve it, Jewel. I try to do the best that I can for you, and for as long we're together, that's what I'll keep doing."

"Thank you, Blu. You always manage to warm my heart. I love you."

"As do I, Jewel. It's hard to think of one single thing that could change that."

They snuggled at the entrance to their hollow for several minutes, enjoying the feel of being next to each other and the serenity of the surrounding jungle.

As much as they wished for this heavenly moment to last forever, they were still bound by the needs of their earthly biology. A short series of rumbles escaped from Blu's stomach, shattering the stillness they had created and causing Jewel to quiver with laughter.

"Well, somebody sure is hungry! Why don't we head out and-"

Jewel's empty stomach resonated with noise, startling her and forcing a smirk to form on her mate's face.

"Speak for yourself, honey. But you're right, we should head out and enjoy a nice breakfast together."

"Well, lead the way, handsome..."

Blu nodded to his mate and glided away from the tree, boosting his flight speed to a reasonable velocity as he flew across the clearing. Jewel soon drifted in alongside him, and they pierced the border of the clearing in unison.

"Do you want to eat anything special today, Blu?"

"Hmmm. Not really. What about you?"

"I think I could go for some dragonfruit. I just hope we can find some before too long."

"Fine with me. We'll just have to fly slowly and keep our vision focused. They're nearly impossible to miss, but finding them is the challenging part."

Clearing out all of the cluttering thoughts and daydreams swimming around in their heads, they powered on through the undergrowth in search of the telltale hot-pink flashes of the fruit.

After ten minutes of dedicated searching, they found not one dragonfruit tree but a luscious grove of them, all erupting from the ground near an expansive pond. They alighted down in the crown of the tallest tree, hardly able to contain themselves from ripping into the fruit that grew at their feet.

"Wow. These look so tasty! Here... you go, Jewel!"

Blu plucked one with a quick jerk - courtesy of his foot - and handed it to Jewel.

"Thanks, Blu! Now, get one for yourself so we can eat."

Moments later, Blu and Jewel were happily dining on the fruit, reveling in the rich flavor and ever thankful that they had found the grove in the first place.

They ate their first serving quickly, and being as they were still unsatisfied, they set upon a second. Halfway through their meal, a soft flutter of wings interrupted the silence they had been dining in.

Blu and Jewel scanned their surroundings for the source of the noise.

"What was that?"

"It sounded like a pair of birds, Jewel. I think someone else is searching for a place to have breakfast."

The macaws glanced around as the flutter grew louder, and true to form, two Blue and Gold Macaws entered the grove and dropped excitedly onto a nearby tree.

"_Bem, Olá lá! Como vocês dois estão nesta bela manhã?_" **{Well, hello there! How are you two on this fine morning?}**

The strongly-hued macaws glanced up at Blu and Jewel with genuine smiles.

The male replied, "_Muito bem, obrigado. Como você e seu amigo está fazendo?_" **{Just fine, thank you. How are you and your friend doing?}**

"Blu and I are feeling great! My name is Jewel, and he is my mate."

"That's nice." said the female. "My name is Sonia, and this here is my mate, Gabriel."

"Nice to meet you, Sonia and Gabriel!"

"Likewise, Blu and Jewel." replied Sonia.

Blu and Jewel nodded to them and resumed eating the half-consumed fruit in their talons.

Sonia and Gabriel leaned down and detached their own, chomping down on them with pleasant eagerness.

Blu and Jewel felt compelled to chalk up a decent conversation with the others, but the food was just too alluring. By the time they were finished, the two Spix's Macaws had each devoured three of the hot-pink ovals, and after wiping their beaks clean on the leaves below, they gave Gabriel and Sonia heartfelt goodbyes.

They left the grove and set out for their home with full bellies, admiring the courtesy the two Blue and Gold Macaws had shown them.

"Those two sure were nice." stated Blu.

"It's pretty hard not to be! There's something about this jungle, something that just soothes your mind and leaves you with a cheerful personality. It's so mysterious..."

"That is quite the theory, Jewel. Perhaps we should gather test subjects and conduct an intuitive experiment to validate it."

She rolled her eyes at his overly-detailed reply.

"You know Blu, your nerdy sentences are so annoying, but then again, they're so cute!"

"Are you saying that because you don't want to make me feel bad, or because you love me and it's the sincere truth?"

Blu stared at her with prying, mischievous eyes as he waited for her to answer.

"I'd have to say it's a little bit of both."

"I think I can deal with that..."

Blu and Jewel shared a quick laugh before flapping their wings more forcefully and speeding on home. They skidded to a stop in their hollow and slammed roughly into the wall.

Their feathers had been disheveled from the return flight, and they set about straightening them with their beaks. After they had groomed themselves and made sure that they looked presentable, they huddled together and mulled over how they would pass the time on this glorious day.

"Do you have anything in mind as to what we could do? It would be a shame to just sleep the day away."

"Let's see. What about spending some time at Rafael and Eva's place?"

"I was thinking that too, Jewel. But what if those eighteen demons are there?"

Blu shuddered at the thought of having his feathers ripped out and his body used as a trampoline.

True, Rafael's chicks had matured and were now a few years old, but who's to say that they could resist reverting back to their childhood ideas of what "having fun" was.

Both Blu and Jewel knew that they could not.

"Yeah, you definitely have a point there. Well, if they're off the list, what about Nico and Pedro?"

"_That _sounds more reasonable. Thing is, they may be out in the city, cavorting and engaging in God-knows-what. How will we find them?"

"We could check their house. If not, then maybe they'll be at the Palm. If they're not there, then I guess we're out of luck."

"Hmmm. Wait a minute! We may have something to keep us occupied yet."

"What do you mean, Blu?"

"If we can't find Nico and Pedro at either of those places, we might as well go spend some time with our offspring. And then, if you feel up to it, we can visit the club for a few hours. It's been over a week since we last went. Kipo must be dying to see us!"

Jewel lowered her gaze slightly and tapped her foot on the hollow, obviously contemplating the attractiveness of Blu's itinerary.

After spending several seconds in this pose, she met her husband's gaze and said, "You cooked up a good plan, handsome. I think it'll work."

"So that's what we'll do?"

"_Com certeza. Por que não?_" **{Sure. Why not?}**

"Alright then, let's get going. V_ocê pode voar na frente desta vez. Não é tão bom ver uma se você está atrás de mim, linda_." **{You can fly in front this time. It's not as good a view if you're behind me, gorgeous.}**

She edged closer to him and declared, "Are you sure it's not _too good _of a view?"

Blu smiled slyly and replied, "I refuse to answer on the grounds that I may incriminate myself."

She gave him a taunting-but-serious slap with her wing.

"_Boa tentativa. Eu sei que você está pensando! Vamos lá, eu posso sentir-me envelhecer a cada segundo, e você não iriagostar de ver-me como uma arara idosos..._" **{Nice try. I know what you're thinking! Come on, I can feel myself getting older by the second, and you wouldn't enjoy seeing me as an elderly macaw...}**

Jewel rose into flight and blasted across the clearing, leaving Blu to stare at her for a few seconds. Seeing that she showed no indication of slowing down, he shook away the euphoria and chased after her.

Their first stop took them deep into the jungle, their destination being the hollows of Nico and Pedro, which grew on opposite sides of a meandering river borne from a secluded waterfall.

Just as they suspected, the two spaces were equally devoid of life, save for a few scattered feathers that had fallen from the bodies of their owners.

"Gah," muttered Blu. "I knew they weren't going to be here. With them being gone all the time, it makes you wonder why they even _have _homes."

He strode deeper into Nico's hollow and kicked the pile of sulfur-tinted feathers in frustration, sending them dancing and spinning through the air.

"Well, to each his own, Blu."

He shot her an accusatory glare, since it sounded like she was defending them.

She shrugged and replied, "Hey mister, I learned that phrase from you."

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go check the club..."

They fled the hollows and cut back across the seemingly endless jungle, a trip that took them a good thirty minutes.

By the time they broke free of the sanctuary and found themselves hovering over the bustling city, it was well past noon.

They skimmed a few feet above the mosaic of buildings, encountering many thermals rising from the scalding roofs on their way to the club. This was the last chance they had to find Nico and Pedro, and if they didn't, their search would end then and there.

The trip over the city was nothing compared to their previous trek, and they located the ever-so-familiar outline of the club directly ahead of them. They executed a slow descent and landed nimbly on the ground. The scorching asphalt immediately cooked their feet, and they made haste to escape it and enter the cool confines of the club.

The lack of music was odd, but it had been replaced by the equally loud drone comprised of dozens of conversations. They found Kipo standing next to some of his friends, and he was easily the tallest avian creature present.

Nico and Pedro were nowhere in sight.

Thinking he might have some clue as to where they may be, they approached him determinedly, and Blu brushed his wing over one of the long, spindly legs. Kipo stared down at him after the sensation garnered his attention, and his eyes bloomed with elation.

"Heya, Blu! Heya, Jewel! What brings you here?"

"Hey Kipo! Jewel and I were wondering if you've seen Nico and Pedro this afternoon."

"I can't say that I have. As crazy as it sounds, they said they wanted to take a break from performing at this club. They went to a different one, on the far eastern side of the bay. They came and told me this morning, and then they left. Why?"

"Well, we kind of wanted to spend some friend time with them, but now that seems impossible."

"Hey, cheer up buddy! They'll be back soon enough. Why don't you stick around here for awhile?"

"We were going to come back in the evening, Kipo. We're going to visit our children for the time being, being as Nico and Pedro decided to haul tail."

"Sweet, Blu! Are you and your mate going to perform?"

"Not tonight. We're just going to relax and listen to the music. It'll be sort of a couples night for us."

"Sounds good, buddy. See you around! Tell your three rascals that Uncle Kipo said hi, okay?"

"No problem. See you in a few hours!" replied Jewel.

The Spoonbill turned his back to them, and they began to walk back through the nearly-serene crowd, towards the exit.

Upon reaching the sun-baked surface, they launched into flight without a second to waste and set their sights on the distant swath of the sanctuary.

"So that's where they went..."

"We never would have found them, Blu. Our search would've been in vain. Kipo saved us a world of trouble, so I suppose it's really not that bad."

"Yeah, you're right. Well, enough reliving what could've been. Let's get our tail-feathers over to our kids. I, for one, am anxious to see how much they've grown!"

"You took the words right out of my beak! I'll race you, handsome. One, two, three, go!"

Jewel increased her speed rapidly, and she was putting some serious distance between her and her mate.

Blu knew that she thought a straight path would get her there faster. However, his gifted mind quickly formulated a solution on how to beat her.

He flew on until he ran into a thermal, at which point he used it to push him higher and higher into the sky.

Once Jewel had all but become a tiny speck far below, he focused himself and began a steep dive. He planned his angle of descent so that he would reach his destination by the time he had dropped to the altitude of the canopy.

With gravity pulling down on him, coupled with his carefully planned wing-strokes, Blu was streaking through the layers of air at blistering speed. He appeared as an electric blue missile to anyone who looked up, his features indiscernible.

Jewel's minuscule form rapidly grew larger, and one minute into his descent, he was preparing himself to streak past her without hitting her, which would most likely result in several broken bones for the two of them.

At the last minute, he braked slightly by flaring his wings and then executed a double barrel roll to the right, just missing his mate and leaving her quite far behind.

Once he was sure she could not catch up to him in time, he slowed his flight immensely and scanned the area for the hollows of his children. At long last, he found the trio of trees peeking out behind a thin screen of plants, and he resolutely flapped his wings a few more times.

He landed gracefully in the middle tree, although his blistering flight had ruffled his feathers for the second time that day.

He saw before him the sleeping form of Esperanza, but he opted to wait for Jewel's arrival before waking her.

After one minute of straight talon-tapping later, a flustered Jewel dropped in beside him, disappointed fire burning in her eyes.

Oblivious to her daughter's presence, she declared, "You cheated! I guess you knew that you couldn't win fair and square!"

He attempted to calm her by saying, "No, Jewel. I just used my superior knowledge of aerodynamics, along with the pull of gravity, to boost my flight speed to near-dangerous levels. Now could you please be quiet? Our daughter is sleeping."

Jewel peered past him and saw that Blu was wrong. Her outburst had awoken the peaceful macaw, and she felt a pang of regret for doing so.

"I'm not sleeping anymore, _mother._"

Blu turned around as Jewel made her way over to Esperanza, and he cast a disapproving gaze into her back.

"Look, I'm sorry for waking you. It was rude and uncalled for."

"Well, it's okay, just promise not to do it anymore!"

"I promise, sweetie."

"Thank you. Why are you and Papa so... frizzy?"

"Your father and I had a little race to see who would get here first. I think you can guess who won!"

A tiny smile grew on Blu's face, and his expression was mirrored by Esperanza. Seeing that they were both secretly pleased by her loss, she decided to change the subject.

"Where are Vicente and Ricardo?"

Esperanza - who was looking past them and saw her brothers land in the entrance - did not reply, and a few moments later, Blu and Jewel heard, "We're right here!"

Vicente and Ricardo took their turns in embracing their parents, who returned each of their hugs with equal fervor.

"You two have certainly grown. I'm impressed! You both look so healthy and well... handsome."

"Thank you, Mama!" they replied in unison.

"Hey, what about me?" demanded the female.

"You have grown too, daughter. It seems that you got your looks from your mother!"

"Really? Thank you, father. I never thought I was _that _pretty!"

"Trust me, if I had met you instead of your mother, and if you were the same age as me, I would've fallen for you just the same!"

Both Esperanza and Jewel couldn't help but blush, but in the latter's case, her blush was accompanied by a swift punch to Blu's chest.

"_Ei, o que foi isso?_" **{Hey, what was that for?}**

Jewel proceeded to strike him in the chest once again.

"_Que... foi por seu comentário de mau gosto pouco._" **{That... was for your tasteless little comment.}**

"Okay, I get it! Stop hitting me!"

Jewel motioned for her children to move deeper into the hollow, leaving Blu doubled over in pain.

"Why did you come to see us today, Mama?" queried Vicente.

"Do you and Papa have a surprise for us? Did you make more eggs?" added Esperanza.

"No... and no. We just came by to visit and check up on you three. Are we allowed to do that? If not we can just... leave."

Jewel turned like she was planning on going to the entrance, but her children all shouted, "No, don't leave!"

She turned back to them and said, "I was just teasing, my sweeties. I'm not going to leave! As for your father" - she looked back at Blu, who was walking toward them with a grimace - "he might not be staying too much longer."

Blu hesitantly drew himself up beside Jewel, visibly tense due to the fear that his mate was going to punch him without warning.

"How are you feeling, Papa?"

"Just... fine, Ricardo. Just some... internal bleeding. Nothing to worry about..." he croaked.

His three children giggled, and despite his discomfort, he couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Well, has anything interesting happened to any of you?" asked Jewel lovingly.

"Not really..." replied Vicente.

"Me neither..." added Esperanza.

"Nope..." concluded Ricardo.

"I was looking forward to an interesting conversation..." said Blu with a distraught expression.

"Has anything happened to you or Papa?"

"Basically, no. But we are going to spend a few hours at the Palm later on tonight." replied Jewel.

The three macaws' eyes lit up with excitement.

"Can we come? Please?" they all pleaded.

"Well, I guess you are old enough, but..."

"But what, Mama?"

Their voices were already tinged with disappointment.

"Jewel and I were planning to go by ourselves. We don't mean to upset you, but we would like to have some free time together, just the two of us."

Their children were obviously less affected than Blu and Jewel imagined them to be.

"Oh. Oh! In that case, we understand. Sometimes, we would rather be together as siblings than out with our friends. Family is important too, right?"

"Well said, you three! Family _is _important, and in the end, family is all we'll have left." stated Blu.

"Now _that's _what I like to hear..." said Jewel proudly as she gazed at her husband.

"Before we talk about anything else, how about we all get something to eat?"

Blu walked steadily over to the hole in the trunk, pausing when he noticed the others weren't following.

"Well, aren't you coming?"

"I thought we were going to eat in here!"

"Why, Jewel? It's a lovely afternoon! Why waste it cooped up in here?"

"Okay then, we'll come."

Blu left the hollow and glided out into the balmy atmosphere, his mate and children following close behind.

They searched for whatever food seemed pleasing, and shortly after their departure, they found a vibrant plant loaded with tangy yellow starfruit.

They all settled in the tree, and after waiting for it to stop rocking, they eagerly but carefully ate their lunch, punctuated by short bursts of conversation.

Once their mellow meal was finished, they returned back to the stand of trees from which they had come.

The effects of the now-heated atmosphere, combined with their churning stomachs, caused them to become drowsy. They all settled into a dreamy nap, comforted by the presence of one another and the love that silently flowed between them.

Their siesta gently passed the time, and when they awoke, the sun was on its way to meeting the sea.

They stayed behind just a few more minutes to say their goodbyes, and once that was completed, two macaws lifted off from the middle tree.

The heat from earlier still lingered in the air, and the two macaws were that much more eager to seek relief from it, courtesy of the Palm.

Flying as fast as they dared, they tore through the sanctuary and blasted back into the city amidst a wave of déjà vu. They retraced their flight path from earlier in the day, and before they were nearing the point of heat-exhaustion, they found the precious club and entered it sluggishly.

They found one of the few empty tables and plopped down side-by-side, fanning themselves with their wings to bring more cooling air to their bodies.

"Oh man, this feels good. It's crazy how it can be so hot outside, and so refreshing in here."

"Indeed, Jewel. I felt like I was going to bake in my feathers out there."

"Our couples night isn't off to a very good start, is it?"

"Well, not really! But I'm sure it'll get better. Once the music winds up and the lights start flashing, we'll forget all about our past troubles."

"If you say so, handsome."

While Blu and Jewel relaxed in the club, they detected something odd. The standard booming beats and hypnotic light shows they had grown accustomed to dealing with were nonexistent.

A soothing ambiance lingered in the air, a complete one-eighty from the usual frenzy that Kipo orchestrated. The lights were toned down and glowed in cool reds, greens, and blues.

"What is going on here?"

"Hmmm. I'm trying to figure that out, Blu. Wait a minute..."

As they lowered their gaze from the ceiling to the floor, they noticed a striking pattern emerge at nearly all of the scattered tables. Two and three pairs of birds sat together, and the pairs were always the exact same species.

Lastly, Blu and Jewel could discern slight details between the pairs, and as they stared at each other, the reality of the situation hit them.

"Kipo must have took what we said to heart and made this an _actual _couples night!"

"He must really care about us to go and work something like this out, Blu."

"I think he deserves the proper congratulations, honey. We'll have to thank him before we leave."

"I think it'll be as much a surprise for him as this was for us. I don't think he's expecting us to thank him."

"I can't wait to see the look on his face! Oh, the music is starting! Let's relax and enjoy the peaceful mood. Just you... and me."

"Fine, but first, how about _you_ and _me_ share one of _these_?"

She leaned into him and supercharged his body with one of her trademark kisses.

"So delicious..." muttered Blu. "You know, if you give me too many of those, I won't be able to keep still." he added.

"Uh-huh. We can't have that, can we?"

Blu smiled sweetly at her before lifting her left wing up onto the table and laying his right wing on top.

A rather seductive Military Macaw graced the stage, bathed in an equally tempting shower of purple and green light. As she belted out a fitting love ballad in Portuguese, the entire crowd of birds swayed languidly in time to the beat.

Blu and Jewel had scooted as close to each other as they could before falling from their seats.

After the song ended, gentle and endearing applause stirred the air and the macaw left the stage, only to replaced by another confident avian species.

This routine repeated twice more in succession, and after the fourth singer left the stage, the DJ announced he was going to take a short break.

The lovestruck throng of birds chased away the silence with honey-like chatter. Jewel nudged Blu with her head to attract his attention.

"Yes, my temptress?"

"I need something to drink."

"Like what? Water? I haven't seen any around here."

"Oh no, not water, my love-hawk. Something... less-restrained. Look to my right, over in the corner."

Blu did as she instructed, and much to his dismay, the bar was up and running, being operated by a skilled Keel-Billed Toucan. Four birds waited patiently in the line that led up to it.

"Why do you want to _drink_? I thought you weren't into that sort of thing."

"I did it a few times when I was younger, but my... my parents... didn't like it one bit. I didn't want to dishonor them, so I stopped. I want to see what it's like."

"But Jewel, it's not very healthy for your body. It kills brain cells, you know. And plus, hangovers are _not _very pleasing."

"Those are risks and side effects that I'll have to deal with myself. I haven't drank in _years_, Blu. It can't be _that _bad."

"Something is telling me that I shouldn't let you, honey. It's like a subconscious warning. Maybe-"

Something flickered deep in Jewel's eyes as she stared at Blu. Was it disapproval? Disapproval over being told "no?"

She pulled Blu closer to her quite abruptly.

"I _want_ to _have_ a _drink_. You're making me upset, mister. This couples night is about to be a singles night... for _me._"

Blu was actually growing scared of her, and her veiled threat told him she might do something she would regret. In addition, he most certainly didn't want her to leave.

"Hey, easy alright? Go have a drink. I won't stop you."

"_Isso é o que eu pensava._" **{That's what I thought.}**

She released her grip quite suddenly, causing him to topple from his seat and fall flat on his back. As he picked himself up and shook the dust from his feathers, his little "accident" had drawn the attention of some of the other couples. He climbed back into his seat and tried to hide himself with his wings, but the piercing stares burned right through to his brain.

_Okay, _he thought angrily. _Is it just me, or is Jewel in bitch mode right now? I didn't do anything wrong! Wait a minute..._

Blu peeked out and saw that he was no longer being stared at. As he gazed around the room, he felt a strong pull coming from deep inside him when he glanced at a bird he knew was female. Right then, he knew what the cause of his attraction and Jewel's temper was.

_I bet it's mating season for us birds. It must be spring down here in the Southern Hemisphere! Well, that explains it. I wonder if Jewel is mad because we haven't had sex. Maybe I should ask her if...we __can put her ovaries to good use..._

As these explanations and musings whirled about in his brain, Jewel plopped back down with a cup nearly filled to the brim with a green liquid.

"What flavor is that?"

"Why do you care? You're not the one drinking it, so don't worry about it."

Blu dropped his eyelids in a harsh stare, but his wife merely lifted the cup to her beak and took a swig. She drew in a deep breath and set the cup down awkwardly, nearly spilling its contents.

"_Porra, que foi delicioso._" **{Damn, that was delicious.}**

With the way Jewel was acting right now, he wanted to swallow some himself and let the alcohol erase his short-term memory. Still, if he and Jewel planned to have sex later that night, he wanted to make sure he was sober.

He leaned as close as he dared and whispered, "Q_uer divertir hoje?_" **{Do you want to have fun tonight?}**

She glanced at him with a slightly dizzy expression and replied, "Fun? What kind of... fun?"

"_Você sabe, diversão sexual?_" **{You know, sexual fun?}**

"If you don't start... treating me better, you won't... be getting _anything _tonight. You better... shape up quick, mister."

"Fine. I'll treat you nicer from now on..."

Another swig from the cup for Jewel.

Another song had begun to waft from the stage, and it helped Blu take his mind off of his wife's deranged behavior.

Once the song was over, he turned to ask her if the song was beautiful or not, but she wasn't there. She was back at the bar, picking up another container of mind-rot.

He noticed a wobble in her gait, and he wondered how her beverage wasn't splashing all over the place. She sat down next to him, irrefutably drunk and quite dizzy.

"Are you okay? I don't think you should drink anymore tonight."

She shook her head feebly and replied, "N-no, I-I'm fine. I'll finish t-this, a-and then I-I'll get a-another."

Blu was torn over concern for her and the wrath he would most likely endure if he _voiced _his concern.

"Jewel, I think you should stop now."

He laid his wing on her gently, but she only flung it away with her own.

"D-don't challenge m-me, j-jerk. I-I'm not g-going to tell y-you again."

She was near her breaking point, and Blu decided to drop the issue.

Maybe, just maybe, he could get her home safely, and even if he didn't get intimate with her, it was a small price to pay in exchange for her well-being.

Yet another swig from the sturdy cup for intoxicated Jewel.

Three more songs were over and done with, and the crowd had thinned slightly over that time period. Blu had stepped outside to "take care of some business," and when he returned, his mate had nearly finished her third cup.

She could barely keep her head up, and her eyelids were drooping as if she hadn't slept in days. Blu knew that she needed to get out of this club, and into the seclusion of their home, _now_. He gently lowered her from her seat and supported her partially with his shoulder.

"W-where... are we..."

"Home, honey. We're going home."

"H-home? Where... the hell... is that? T-this is... my h-home... damn it."

She attempted to break free, but he gripped her tightly, and she stopped struggling.

_If I can just make it to the door, _prayed Blu. _It's just a few feet away. Stay with me, Jewel. You can go wild outside..._

They made steady progress, but all of a sudden, Jewel said quite forcefully, "I-I don't know... this asshole! He's b-birdnapping me. Can a-anyone k-kick his ass? Hello!"

"Hush, Jewel! Come on, let's go."

He tried to cover her face with his left wing, but she smacked it away once again.

"D-don't try to s-silence me... y-you little b-bitch..."

_Oh God, this is a nightmare. I wish she would shut up!_

Nearly all of the birds in the club were now staring at them, and even the singer had been interrupted.

At least Kipo hadn't come out and witnessed the spectacle Jewel was instigating. That would have caused Blu more shame than he could hope to bear.

Moments later, Jewel stopped moving and shoved her mate away, fixing him with a spear-like glare.

She marched over to a female Scarlet Macaw who still had her gaze locked on the two Spix's Macaws.

"What are... you looking a-at? Am I-I too pretty f-for you? Well, too damn b-bad, so h-how about y-you look... at the g-ground?"

The female macaw's smile morphed to an angry frown, but Blu's mate took no notice. Jewel raised her wing and swatted the female from her chair, causing her to spin around as she fell and land face first on the floor.

As the female attempted to get up, Jewel held her neck down with her foot and spit on her.

"Well, h-how... does i-it look, you f-feathery slut?"

The male of the pair jumped down to help his mate, shoving the aggressor backwards and lifting the victim up to reveal a bloody cut on her otherwise perfect face. He moved the shaking, fearful female behind him and viciously glared at Jewel.

"What is your damn problem? You just injured my mate! I'll take you on right now, you degenerate freak!"

Seeing that the two macaws were all but ready to lunge at each other, Blu rushed in and placed himself between the two bristling birds.

"Hey, let's just calm down here! No need for a conflict. You have to forgive my mate, she's got a quick temper, and the fact that she's drunk doesn't help. I am so sorry!"

"What-the-hell-ever. Learn how to better control your girl, asshole. Now get lost, before I dig my claws into that little bitch of a mate you have."

As quickly as he could, Blu neared the door and slowly slipped outside. He paused just past the threshold and heard some of the guests murmuring.

"Woah. She's a wild one!"

"I wonder how good she is in bed."

"Looks like he can't control her. Maybe he needs to get someone else!"

"I wish they would have attacked each other. That drunk bird would've put up a good fight!"

"Her mate is such a stupid ass! Ha ha ha..."

He led his wasted wife away from the club at a fair pace, trying his best to ignore the taunts and jeers he had heard.

Once they were a suitable distance away, he slowly drew away from her, his muscles tense and ready for action.

"Hey, where... where did you g-go, asshole? I c-cant find y-you..."

"I'm back here, Jewel. Can you fly the rest of the way home?"

"Fly? Of c-course I can f-fly! Just w-watch me..."

She rose into the air and attempted to gain forward momentum, but she merely crashed head-first into the ground with a painful *****crack*****. He rushed to her side and saw that she was bleeding from a small cut on her forehead.

"Jewel, you're bleeding! I don't think you can fly. Do you want me to carry you?"

She dragged herself to her feet and glared at the ground like some deranged fool.

"S-stupid ground. Quit h-hitting me... damn it! I c-could... beat y-you in a f-fight any day. Bring it..."

"Did you hear me? Do you want me to carry you?"

"N-no carry. I-I'll walk. You w-walk. I w-want to see what h-home..."

She trotted off down the poorly-lit space between the buildings, making more left and right progress than she did forward progress.

As Blu jogged to catch up with her, he thought, _This is going to be a long damn night..._

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**You must review this story. I need to hear your thoughts!**

**Flame me if you wish. I'm already on Fyre, what could it hurt?**


	2. One Tragic Question

**Chapter 2:One Tragic Question**

The city of Rio was vast and confusing, with its mazes of buildings and labyrinths of streets. The only way Blu could hope to find the sanctuary was to keep walking west, away from the bay. Jewel, though still staggering about, was being quite cooperative, allowing her mate to guide her steadily, using his voice from his position a few feet behind.

They had been trotting towards the sanctuary for over thirty minutes, but the sea of buildings seemed unyielding and infinite. About a third of the way into their journey, they had managed to find a street oriented parallel to their direction of travel, and even though it carried inherent risks, Blu insisted that he and Jewel follow it.

It was a strange sight to see indeed, two striking azure birds waddling down the sidewalk a few feet apart, with the rear bird cawing every few seconds and supposedly guiding the other, who looked out-of-sorts.

Jewel's warped mentality meant she paid little attention to danger, and several times throughout the trek, she had nearly been kicked or stepped on by a human who was exiting a restaurant or a store. By some divine hand, she had teetered in the opposite direction just in time to avoid the foot that would have crushed her bones or sent her rolling into the perilous street.

After the fourth occurrence of this near-disaster, Blu had opted to walk immediately behind his mate and serve as her eyes and ears. She allowed him to use his wings to steer her, and she did not protest.

Nonetheless, her incoherent babbling about the most random subjects was digging deep into Blu's skin.

Some of the more humorous subjects included the notion that she had no children at all, she knew not who Rafael and Eva were, and she was convinced that Blu was leading her to fantasy land.

Blu did his best to dismiss her off-the-wall shouts, but at the same time, he prayed that the jungle would spring up on the horizon within the next five minutes so that he could put his clown factory of a mate to sleep.

Gradually, as they went along the seemingly endless river of pavement, the shops disappeared - only to be replaced by the ominous stares of houses - and the cars no longer filled the air with noise and foul smells. The lamp-posts that had graced the sidewalk and cast their soft light for everyone to see had vanished.

The once lively street they were traveling on was now a shadowed, cold strip of rough asphalt, and Blu was trembling with fear.

_This is the place where nightmares hide. This is the place where the most sinister evils are committed. This is the last place a drunken macaw and her mate should be..._

He nudged Jewel's back and whispered, "Uh, honey, could you walk a little faster? This isn't the safest place to be wandering in the dead of night."

Without slowing down, she replied, "S-sure, b-buddy! I-I'll walk... f-faster..."

Jewel broke into a soft jog, and Blu had to admit, it was almost cute. The way her head feathers bounced around and the way her tail brushed the asphalt gave him the urge to run up and snuggle into her. Still, if he wanted to do _any _of that, he had to get her home safe, so he shook the distracting musings from his head.

_There will be time for intimacy later. I need to focus and just... find the way home. I think I can feel the jungle calling to me..._

Blu, who had stopped to contemplate these thoughts, had allowed his mate to walk ahead without him, and when he looked up, Jewel was gone.

_Oh shit! Now I've lost her!_

He sped into a desperate run and took off down the street as fast as his fragile legs would move.

"Jewel! Where are you, honey? Make a noise or... something!"

He jerked his gaze down from left to right, but all he could see were the dark outlines of scattered houses and looming hills just off the road. He maintained his frantic pace for one whole minute, but eventually he crawled to a stop and rested.

"Hello? Jewel! Please, tell me... where you are!"

He looked in all directions, but to no avail. Defeated, he lowered his head, and when he caught sight of the ground, he noticed he was standing on dusty, dry earth. It took him a few seconds to discern what had happened to Jewel.

_Hey, I know. The street must have veered off, and Jewel must have followed it! I have to go back!_

Blu whirled around and ran at a fair pace back the way he came. Sure enough, not twenty seconds into his journey, the street had bent to the left, and as Blu rounded the corner, a long row of evenly spaced houses framed the road on both sides.

Some of the houses were lit up from the inside, and the streams of light pouring from the windows cast irregular squares onto the road. The most joyful sight however, was a bobbing figure not three houses down, tinted a soft shade of blue.

"Jewel, slow down! I'm coming for you!"

Blu's metabolism was racing, his heart kicking rapidly and he could only manage a gentle jog. Eventually, he came up behind her, stopping her with with a hug and twirling her around to face him. He did his best not to cringe at her distorted, drowsy appearance, but having found her prevented his gut reaction from surfacing.

"I was so scared, honey! I thought you had gotten lost! Thank God you're safe."

"I-I can h-handle myself. Let g-go, so I c-can... walk. I c-can s-smell the j-jungle..."

Blu turned her around and pushed her gently, and she resumed her dazed ambling down the street. As he trailed her, he breathed in, and a strong, earthy scent filled his senses.

_For what it's worth, she's right. The last leg of our journey is close at hand. But I can't see the jungle from here, so where is it?_

The rich scent of healthy plant matter and the sweet aromas of fruit choked the air, and being as there was no breeze, determining where its origins were was a mystery.

They came to the end of the street, and it merely terminated in a cul-de-sac. One stately house sat at the end, just past the large circle of open pavement, and the serene jungle was still in hiding.

Blu and Jewel were standing in front of the last house on the right, bathed in the ambiance of the silent neighborhood and the taunting scents of the jungle. Unsure of what to do, Blu watched his mate walk away from him and round the corner of the house.

With slight hesitation, he followed, and as he came up behind Jewel, a startling sight loomed in front of him.

A leafy wall rose up in the near distance, and it stretched away on his left until it blended smoothly with the moonless velvet sky.

Jewel lifted her wing and mumbled, "J-jungle. Let's g-go..."

She waddled off towards the black wall of undergrowth, and Blu was filled with a certain rush of jubilee.

_Finally! We found it! Now, all we have to do is locate the clearing. Like it or not, I'm going to have to carry Jewel up to our nest..._

He made to follow, and as they came to the fringes of the sanctuary, the border net lay like a sinuous barrier that rose up into the starry sky.

"How are we going to get past the net, Jewel? The only openings are up-"

The sound of grunting and cloth tearing caused him to look at his mate. She had torn some of the fibers with her beak, and slithered in past the hole.

Without looking back, she replied, "T-thats... how. Come..."

The jungle, like the desolate street, carried its own hidden dangers, and many of them could claim their lives in a split second. Lurking pythons, bird-sized spiders, and other predators that called this verdant expanse their hunting ground and home.

It was hard to focus on Jewel _and _keep his senses sharp for any signs of danger. Navigation was also no easy task, for everything looked so different and alien down on the ground, compared to up in the air.

Blu tried to use the stars to chart his course, and he had a vague idea of where the clearing was located in relation to those stars.

Given the vastness of the sanctuary, a vague idea was better than no idea.

One particular twinkling speck caught Blu's attention, and something beyond even his understanding egged him to follow that star.

"Hey, Jewel?"

"What... you l-little p-punk?"

"Our home is this way. Let me lead you on."

"W-whatever. Just m-make it q-quick."

Jewel was nowhere close to achieving sober status, and Blu deemed that a good long sleep was the only cure.

As he led his mate on with his wing, he was routinely started by the sounds that would jump out at him from every direction. The snap of a stick, the rustle of leaves, the bass croak of a frog. It seemed as though the jungle took pride in exacerbating his already-tense state.

They moved through the undergrowth at a reasonable speed, but silence was out of the question. For some reason, Jewel's garbled rants that she had spouted back in the city had returned for a repeat, and Blu just knew that many a macaw family would be awoken by her reverberating shouts.

They ambled on in sheer darkness, the feeble points of light glinting above no match for the thick canopy of drooping leaves and gnarled branches. Thirty agonizing, jittery minutes from the time they crossed into this unforgiving land, Blu felt a silent signal that their home was not too distant, screened away somewhere along their current path.

"Sweetie?"

"Ugh... w-what? L-leave me a-alone."

"I can sense that our home is hidden up ahead. We're nearly there. Once we arrive-"

Blu felt a strong tug on his wing, and as he looked down, he saw that Jewel had tripped on a fallen branch. She slowly picked herself up and glared not at the branch, but at Blu.

"W-way to go... a-asshole! You j-just let me... trip! Can't y-you watch where t-the... hell we're g-going?"

"Hey, I'm sorry, beautiful. I wasn't paying attention to the ground. Are you-"

She pushed Blu backwards angrily, and before he could recover, he tripped on the very same stick. He fell over and smacked his head on a stone, accompanied by a sting of pain. As he got up, a warm tickle threaded its way down his neck, and he knew he was bleeding.

"That's it! You are out of control, Jewel. Even if it kills me, I'm never letting you touch one more alcoholic drink. I swear I won't."

"W-we'll s-see, punk. Where t-the hell i-is our n-nest!"

"If you wouldn't keep pushing me around, maybe we could get there. Now come on!"

He gripped her with his wing and pulled her forward, anger and dismay fueling his footsteps. When they had traveled for three more minutes at Blu's new pace, the silent reassurance welled up once more.

Blu let Jewel go and trudged forward, bursting from the thick plant growth and finding himself in his very own clearing.

The cannonball tree in the center stood tall and proud, a sentinel in the night, a beacon of hope.

He dashed back to retrieve Jewel, a dreamy smile on his face, devoid of any negative emotions.

He attempted to lead Jewel the forty or so feet to the tree, but she wouldn't budge. She turned away like a catwalk model and began walking almost exactly back the way they had come.

"Hello? Where are you going? Our nest is just past this wall of plants."

She paused in her retreat and seethed, "Y-yeah... right. Our h-home is t-this way, i-idiot. I m-may be d-drunk, but I'm n-not... stupid."

She pushed a fern leaf aside and walked past it, letting it spring back into place and obscure her body from sight.

_Yep, still going to be a long damn __night._

He sauntered after her, determined to get her home safe, even if it was at his expense. He caught up to her and tapped her on the back, and she slowly turned around and fixed him with a hideous stare.

"W-what the h-hell is up... with y-you and b-bothering me?"

"I'm telling you, Jewel, our home is _that way_," declared Blu while pointing with his wing. "Just past this little stretch of plants."

"You're a... d-damn liar. G-get away f-from me. I'll f-find my o-own way h-home."

She whirled around and made to walk away, but Blu moved in front of her and cut her off.

"No, I will not get away. You are acting ridiculous! What happened to the sweet, caring, and beautiful bird I used to know?"

"You're l-looking at h-her, asshole. Now m-move, or else..."

"Or else what?" "Or else.. I'm g-going to k-kick... your ass."

"You wouldn't dare."

A blow from her wing convinced him otherwise.

He tumbled head-over-tail and ended up on his stomach, still facing Jewel.

A truly furious haze fogged up her eyes, and Blu was wondering what he had gotten himself into.

He picked himself up and rubbed the sore spot on his chest, doing his best to shoot Jewel an equally intimidating glance. It didn't work. His mate did not show a single hint of backing down.

A wave of bewilderment and hurt cracked Blu's tough expression, and he cried, "I don't deserve to be treated like this! I'm your mate, the father of our kids, damn it! Do you have no shame?"

"Ha ha ha! Who... g-gives a shit? I d-don't. You're j-just a sorry-ass... joke. I d-don't know w-why... I e-even live with y-you. Well, I-I used t-to live w-with y-you. S-see you... l-later, bitch..."

He approached her while summoning up all the courage he could muster.

He was met by another painful blow, for Jewel had floored him with another wing swipe.

He tumbled into a nearby tree, and he saw his deluded mate flying awkwardly at him. Before he could move, she drove her head into his chest, winding him completely.

He fell over and gasped for breath, and the sharp pain made drawing in oxygen even harder.

"Here's a-a parting... gift f-for you. J-just try and... f-follow me..."

She raised him back up and threw him against the tree. She peered deep into his eyes, which were drowned in pain and sorrow, and smirked.

She raised her foot and arced it through the air, enjoying the tug she felt when it made contact with Blu's body.

She turned away and half-fluttered into the jungle, going wherever her warped mind would take her.

Jewel's talon swipe had raked across Blu's face, slicing into the soft skin around his right eye and tearing his eyelid. Her talons had also scratched his cornea, and his bleeding eyelid closed reflexively amidst an explosion of pain.

He fell over onto the dry earth and shrieked, "Ahhh, my eye! I'm blind! It fuckin' hurts! Why did you do this, Jewel!"

He quivered about on the ground, his feet flailing in the air to try and dissipate the fire that scorched his mind.

His left eye was streaming tears, both from the sheer agony and from the hurt he felt choking his soul. His right eye, however, was streaming channels of scarlet.

"Please help me! Oh God, please. Somebody, come and knock me out! I can't deal with this!"

He staggered to his talons, for one whole side of his vision was black and featureless.

He attempted to put himself out by banging his head against the tree, but he only succeeded in bruising the left side of his face.

The initial agony had decreased enough for him to think, but just barely so.

What his mate did was... horrifying, but she was out there, all alone and completely vulnerable. He was ripped in half between the decision to pursue her or to just abandon her and go home.

He had just been thrown into a waking nightmare, and he would rather die than relive it once again. As terrible as that sounds, he would never forgive himself if he never saw Jewel again, and he would rather die then as well.

_I can't leave her. I just can't! My wounds will heal, but if she gets killed out there, my soul will not. I am still bound to her with every fiber of my being. I love her too much to let her go this way. I won't stand for it!_

Walking would only put him in more danger than he could deal with in his hampered state, but he wanted to see if flight was still an option.

As he rose into the air, he truly realized that he had taken his vision for granted. Half of the world was invisible, and there was a great chance that he would not be able to fly even a few feet without striking a branch or entangling himself in a vine.

Having to decide whether to walk or fly was like having to choose between the lesser of two evils. Both carried great advantages, but dire risks as well.

Being that his mate was most likely ground-bound, he decided to do what he did best and walk. He landed roughly back on the desiccated turf and tried to still his nerves.

His entire face was throbbing, as if it was being run over rhythmically by a car tire.

"I'm coming for...you Jewel! I still... love you. We're chained to each other birds... remember..."

His desperate shouts rang out for the whole world to hear, and he solemnly began the search for his belligerent mate...

* * *

><p>For two hours straight, he crisscrossed the jungle, searching every grove, pool, and clearing he came across. Not one time did he encounter any signs that his mate had ever been there. His body was creeping closer and closer to exhaustion, but he still pushed himself to keep going.<p>

It was insane what love could make a lone, half blind macaw do.

He had paused to rest in a desolate grove of banana trees, but he was too distraught to eat.

His thoughts were burdened with a thousand reasons as to why he hadn't found Jewel.

Some were just wishful thinking, like the impossible chance that she had actually gone home. Others were too atrocious to even contemplate, like the small chance that she had satisfied a snake's hunger for a few weeks.

He knew his search would never be completed if he terrorized his mind with such thoughts.

He shook his head gently and clambered from the grove, moving at a sluggish pace as he searched the monotony of the jungle.

Half an hour later, he knew he could continue no more. He managed to find the guiding star up above, and with a crushing sigh, began to trudge his way home.

He came upon a fairly old cannonball tree, and as he crawled past it, an odd noise managed to find its way into his spent brain.

_What the hell is that? It sounds... pleasant. It wouldn't surprise me if two birds are having some late-night sex up there._

Blu shrugged and took a step, but then he heard a name. _His name. _His stomach twisted with dread, and he used a considerable amount of effort to fly up and find the hollow where the sounds were pouring from.

The space was pitch-dark, and Blu could not make out hardly any details. However, the noises grew louder, and it did indeed like two birds were busy copulating.

He saw two writhing shapes at the far end of the hollow, and once again, he heard his name being called. Only one bird could stir his soul so completely with just her voice: Jewel.

All at once, the pieces fit together, and Blu's world exploded with the force of a supernova.

His mate, the bird he would die for, the bird he loved beyond all measure, was in the wings of another. She was moaning in pleasure, as was the male, as he sat and listened, she called out his name in ecstasy.

Compared to how she sounded hours earlier, it was apparent that Jewel had sobered up considerably. Her voice was clear and smooth, like a mountain lake in the spring.

Blu couldn't tell what species of bird was pleasuring his mate, but it didn't matter. She had committed an unforgivable crime, one that was enough to cause a divorce had they been human.

Like a marionette who's strings had been snipped, Blu collapsed against the wall of the hollow, completely still and unfeeling.

Moments later, the energetic cries ceased, and the mysterious male bird declared, "You... have some nasty tail... girl. Why don't you and me... go steady for awhile?"

Blu heard a loud ruffling, and the shape huddled near the floor sprang up and tossed the other form off.

"Oh my god! You're not Blu! Your voice... it's so different. What have I done..."

"Of course I'm not Blu! My name is Roberto! Wait, someone's here..."

Blu saw the shadowed shape shift, as if he was peering into the darkness directly at him.

"Jewel, who... is that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Why, Jewel? _Why?_" was all Blu could force from his beak amidst his tears.

"How does he know your name?"

"Oh... shit! Blu, I didn't know... how did you..."

"It doesn't matter. You betrayed me, Jewel. You BETRAYED ME! You've caused a rift in our relationship that will NEVER be healed. You had it all... but it wasn't enough."

"Oh God, please let me explain! I didn't mean to... I'm so sorry, Blu! I'm _so sorry!_"

"Is this... your mate? You didn't tell me you were taken! I just had sex with a non-virgin? Get out of here, you... slut!"

"I was drunk, Roberto! You knew that before we even..."

"Hey, I was ready to get some anyways, but I wanted fresh meat, not some used-and-abused whore like you. Go, go, go!"

Jewel crawled away from Roberto and approached Blu, her eyes dripping tears.

"Please forgive me! I still love you! Let me come home with you... _please_..."

"Find your *sniff* own home. I don't know what I feel for you anymore. *sniff* You're better off with _him_, right? You don't even *sniff* deserve a goodbye..."

Blu dragged himself from the wall and glided from the hollow, no longer caring about how long it would take to get home or how perilous the flight would be.

All Jewel could hear as he receded were the tragic sobs of a tortured soul...

* * *

><p>His good eye bled tears steadily all the way home.<p>

As far as he knew, his relationship with Jewel was shattered like a once-pristine window after being struck by a bullet.

He could not think, he could not feel. All he could do was follow that tiny star and flap his wings.

He knew not what kind of future lay ahead for him and his family. Jewel was a lost cause, but his children still needed their father. If anything, he would hold out for them, and them alone. Who else was there he could rely on?

The magnitude of this ordeal was immeasurable. More than once during his flight, Blu contemplated suicide.

It would be so _easy_; a fall from a branch with a vine around his neck, a kick to the side of a sleeping python, a head-first dive onto a sizable stone... the possibilities abounded.

Even though the urge to take his own life was strong, he knew where he would end up. The raging infernos of hell wouldn't be much of a change from the hell he was in right now, but there were three loving souls he had created, and he wouldn't leave them behind.

Eventually, they would have to know what had befallen their mother, but that would come later. All Blu wanted to do was sleep.

He had become a robot, a creature with little purpose, a shell of his former self. All he would be able to do was sleep... breathe... eat. Sleep... breathe... eat. Sleep... breathe... eat.

Once in the clearing, he flew languidly over to his home and landed inside. How he had managed to make it home unscathed was a miracle, but it did little to ease his mood.

As he made his way over to his shadowed nest, he bumped into a soft shape. It was his daughter.

He was shocked to see that his children were gathered in front of him, but it was more of a dull pinch.

"Papa? What's the matter? Where's Mama?"

Leave it to Esperanza to get straight to the point.

Blu began to cry once more, and the hugs from his three children returned a small amount of his sensation. In the lackluster hollow, his children could not see the extent of his injuries, and for that he was thankful.

"Your mother is...*sniff * has done... something too terrible to speak of.*sniff*"

"What do you mean?" pleaded Ricardo.

"Forgive me *sniff* son, but it's better... that you not know. *sniff*"

"I don't know what will happen from here, but even if your mother doesn't see you, rest assured that I will always be here."

Esperanza, Ricardo, and Vicente were too stunned to speak.

Based on what their father said, they deduced that their mother was still alive, but the ultimate question was still left unanswered.

As Blu hobbled past them and dropped into his nest, Vicente asked, "Can you please tell us what happened to our mother?"

Blu merely sighed without looking up.

"Your mother... she got drunk... and after we left the club... she ran away. I eventually found her... with another macaw. She was in his wings... and she was calling my name. Please don't ask anything else. Just let me go to sleep."

Blu drooped his head onto the side of the nest and let his eye slide shut.

His children were visibly trembling from his announcement, their minds crushed and their hearts heavy. Seeing that their father was upset beyond words, they decided that they would stay with him and help ease his sorrow.

They arranged themselves around him and stroked him gently before joining him in the realm of dreams...

* * *

><p>Jewel flapped her wings erratically and bounded through the greenery like a moth in pursuit of an ever-receding light. Her muddled mind erased nearly all of the events leading up to her escape, but she somehow remembered hearing Blu's scream of agony echoing from behind her.<p>

"W-whatever I d-did, he d-deserved i-it..."

Jewel knew not where she was, or where she planned to go, she just went. She felt a certain drive to find something, but she couldn't divine what it was.

She let her feet take her wherever they may, and she was oblivious to whatever dangers the jungle was concealing. Her mind wasn't any clearer from when she had left, too disorganized to even allow her to track the time.

The lonely Spix's Macaw waddled and thrashed about the jungle for two hours, and when she finally paused to rest - like she had done a few times before - she found herself at the foot of a cannonball tree.

A soft murmuring was heard spilling down from above, and Jewel's interest was piqued.

With a half-intelligible voice, she called, "H-hello? Who.. who's up... there?"

A feathery mass poked out of the hollow, and she realized it was some species of bird.

"Who are you?" the male demanded.

"I-I'm looking for... something. Can y-you help m-me find it?"

Something was off about the female's voice, and he guessed that she was drunk. Just then, an idea clicked in his head.

_Maybe I can convince her to give up her most private piece of real estate! I wouldn't mind getting some tail tonight. She's drunk, so it shouldn't be too hard..._

"Yeah, sure. Can you fly up here?"

"Uh... no. I n-need your h-help..."

"Okay, I'll be right down..."

Once the macaw had carried the female up to his hollow, he set about luring this wasted female into giving him what she wanted.

"So, what are you looking for, exactly?"

"I-I don't really... know. Wait, a-are you... a macaw?"

"I'm a Lear's Macaw. My name is Roberto. You?"

"I-I'm Jewel. I am a... a Spix's Macaw. Is your name... Blu?"

"No, it's Roberto."

"N-no it's not. Your name... is Blu. I t-think I f-found what... I'm looking f-for."

The female drew close to him, and as their chests brushed, they both felt a sudden geyser of passion spew inside of them.

"You know, that felt good... Jewel. I've been waiting for a bird to get naughty with, and guess what, I think you're the one."

"Really, B-Blu?"

As long as he got to have some delicious sex tonight, who cares what she called him?

"Really. Why don't we have some fun time together, Jewel?"

"W-why not, h-handsome?"

She shoved him against the wall and forced her beak into his. Their tongues met in a swirl of sensation, and Jewel's alcohol-tainted saliva made the experience even more tantalizing.

They slid from the wall, leaving Roberto pinned beneath Jewel, their metabolisms speeding up. Jewel kept her tongue deep inside Roberto's mouth while he massaged her back with his wings in a seductive rhythm.

"Man... you are one sexy devil, Jewel. Give me some more tongue..."

She pulled her beak from his and began to lick his neck, along with the occasional playful bite. Every time her beak pinched his skin, it was as if a miniature bolt of lightning had stung him, causing him to screech with pleasure.

"Damn... that felt good! Do it again..."

She continued this ritual, moving lower and lower down his body. After spending a few minutes on his chest and stomach, he lifted her head up and stared deep into her gorgeous eyes.

"What's... the matter? Had... enough yet?"

Her tempting voice gave him pause.

_I think she's sobered up a little! Good. Now she'll be able to enjoy what I'm feeling to the fullest extent._

"No, Jewel. I want _more._ Drive my body crazy..."

"Okay, Blu..."

There was one remaining spot that Jewel had left to stimulate, and it lay just past his legs, towards his tail. She lowered her head and stretched her tongue out, letting it graze that small patch of bare skin.

She felt Roberto tense up beneath her, so she did it again.

An otherworldly fire burned through Roberto's body, and he thought he might faint from the ecstasy. His breath grew sporadic and came in waves as Jewel continued her ritual.

"Oh shit... Jewel! God... that feels... amazing. I'm about to... explode! Don't... stop..."

A few moments later, on the verge of self-destructing, Roberto grabbed Jewel and flipped her over, pinning her body beneath his.

Jewel was staring at him with lust in her eyes, and her breathing rate matched his.

"It's my turn... Jewel. Now I get... to drive you mad..."

"S-surprise me, b-big boy..."

He locked talons with her and pressed every single inch of his body against hers, filling both their bodies with a wave of hot lust. Roberto licked Jewel's neck and caused her to cry out.

"Oh Blu, y-you and I h-have... amazing s-sex. Give y-your... body t-to me..."

Roberto's cloaca pressed against Jewel's, and he maintained his hold on her neck with his beak. She squeezed him closer with her wings, and she cried out Blu's name in ecstasy one last time. Roberto quivered and deposited his seed into Jewel.

His breathing slowed down to a decent rate, and he slumped against Jewel in the afterglow of their session. The intense activity had sped up Jewel's metabolism, and that in turn helped burn most of the alcohol from her system.

He stared into Jewel's eyes and whispered, "You... have some nasty tail... girl. Why don't you and me... go steady for awhile?"

"Oh my god! You're not Blu! Your voice... it's so different. What have I done..."

She threw him off her and jumped to her feet.

"Of course I'm not Blu! My name is Roberto! Wait, someone's here..."

He gazed into the cave-like hollow and spied the outline of a slumped-over figure pressed against the far wall.

"Jewel, who... is that?" queried the macaw next to her.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why, Jewel? _Why?_"

Right then and there, the now-sober Jewel knew who had discovered her: Blu. His voice was petite and clipped, but that one single question dripped with sorrow like a fresh stab-wound.

"How does he know your name?"

Jewel knew that her world was seconds away from toppling over into oblivion.

"Oh... shit! Blu, I didn't know... how did you..."

The words could barely get out of her beak.

"It doesn't matter. You betrayed me, Jewel. You BETRAYED ME! You've caused a rift in our relationship that will NEVER be healed. You had it all... but it wasn't enough."

His words impaled her, for they carried the weight of utter truth.

"Oh God, please let me explain! I didn't mean to... I'm so sorry, Blu! I'm _so sorry!_"

Roberto bristled and yelled, "Is this... your mate? You didn't tell me you were taken! I just had sex with a non-virgin? Get out of here, you... slut!"

He fixed her with a disgusted look, and she did her best to make him seem partly at fault.

"I was drunk, Roberto! You knew that before we even..."

"Hey, I was ready to get some anyways, but I wanted fresh meat, not some used-and-abused whore like you. Go, go, go!"

Her eyes instantly began leaking fluid, and she crawled closer to Blu like a sick child to its mother.

"Please forgive me! I still love you! Let me come home with you... _please_..."

His reply was quaking with sadness, and Jewel could _feel _the undercurrents of suffocating despair.

"Find your *sniff* own home. I don't know what I feel for you anymore. *sniff* You're better off with _him_, right? You don't even *sniff* deserve a goodbye..."

Without another word, the macaw she had blinded and essentially murdered on the inside... left.

His mournful cries faded into the distance, but they were were sure to haunt Jewel's mind until the day she died.

"Go on, go! I don't think you'll like the feel of my talons in your skin..."

She tripped over herself as she fled the hollow and into the frosty night air.

_That's all my soul is now. A frozen ball of emotions, forever trapped within me. Hate... at myself. Sorrow... for Blu. Despair... for both of us. I have nowhere to go... except a lonely, cold hollow..._

Jewel knew she had splintered Blu's heart, drove the pieces into the ground, and it was all her fault. _All her fault._

It was hard to say whether she would ever recover, whether she would ever be welcomed back into her family, whether Blu would ever look at her the same way again.

She merely flew on until she found an empty hollow, not caring that she had no nest to sleep on.

At this point, she knew she deserved nothing, _nothing_ in return for the crime she had committed against her mate, who might not be her mate for much longer.

She landed cuddled up away from the entrance and fluffed up her feathers to keep out the cold that gripped her.

All of the emotions, implications, and what-ifs assaulted her brain, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Not knowing what the next sunrise would bring, she merely prayed that someday, someway, she would get to see her children again and hold her mate in her wings...


	3. From Macaw To Human

**Chapter 3:From Macaw To Human**

As much as he wished for the power to stay the sunrise, as much as he wished for the ability to sleep for eternity, he knew neither was possible.

The precious light from the rising sphere of fire did not reach Blu, for its path had been blocked by the sleeping form of Ricardo. The warm spot that developed on Ricardo's back stirred him from sleep, and once he was sufficiently alert, he roused his two siblings.

The beam of photons now traveled through the hollow uninterrupted, striking Blu's head and warming it gently. The feeling soon grew uncomfortable, and he awoke himself groggily.

The blackness he had been suspended in due to his sleep was still present, since his right eye was still sealed shut from the injury. Half of his vision was a sea of nothingness.

A steady pain still persisted, sweeping over both sides of his head at regular intervals, and a small part of him wished he had never woken up.

A gentle series of taps upon his back grabbed his attention and he turned sluggishly around, only to meet the gazes of his children. They recoiled in shock, for the extent of his injuries were now revealed to them by the morning light.

Only adding to the agony of his blood-crusted right eye was the left side of his face, covered in sickly purple and black bruises.

His still-functioning eye blinked slowly, and he whispered, "It's truly terrible, isn't it? I don't know if it'll ever heal. My entire face is wracked with pain right now..."

"Did Mama... do this to you?"

"Yes, Vicente. She attacked me as I tried to bring her home, and she raked my eye... with her talons. As for the bruises, I did those myself. I was hurting so bad... I tried to knock myself out. It didn't work..."

He simply couldn't hold back the tears, and they dripped steadily down the side of his face, sparkling as they fell and exploded on the floor.

The three macaws fixed each other with bewildered and hurt expressions before scooting closer to their father and hugging him. They could sense his pain, and on the inside, they were suffering just as terribly as he.

For now, they were all he had, and just the same, he was all they had.

They snuggled tenderly against him to try and ease the crushing emotions he was undoubtedly drowning in. He carefully stepped from his nest and squeezed his three children together, wrapping his wings around them all.

"I am sorry, Papa. I know you are hurting _so bad. _I love you, and I hope I am helping you feel a little bit better."

He stared down at his daughter, sincerely moved by her caring words, and a faint smile graced his horrid face.

"Thank you, my sweet Esperanza. I love you so much. I do feel slightly better..."

He bent his head down and planted a kiss on the side of her face, causing one lone tear to erupt from the corner of her eye.

"What will you do now Papa?"

"I don't... I just don't know, Ricardo. I can't think about that. I don't want to think..."

"Do you want us to stay here with you?"

Blu let out a sigh as heavy as lead and replied, "I... yes, I do, Vicente. You three are the only things keeping me together. I didn't mean for you to... find out so soon. I didn't mean... to drag you into this..."

They all stared up and him, and their faces were damp from the tears they had shed.

"We'll stay here as long as you want, father. We'll do all we can to help you."

"I know you will. I love you all... more than my words could ever express. Never forget that."

"Never." they replied in unison.

He gave them all a loving kiss and withdrew from their embrace. He smiled slightly once again, and as he crept towards the edge of the hollow, his stomach issued a grave rumble.

"I am going... to get some food. Do you want to come with me?"

His two sons rushed in front of him, and Ricardo said, "You stay here, Papa. Vicente and I will go bring you some. You need to rest."

"Yeah, don't worry Papa. What do you want?" added his brother.

"Mangoes. Please bring me some mangoes."

The two brothers nodded and fled the hollow, fading into the glare of the blazing sun.

Esperanza ambled up beside him and began to massage his back with her wing.

"Why are my children so good to me?"

"Because you brought us three into the world. We love you, and we'll always help you. Right now, you need our help more than ever."

"How could I argue with that..."

The horror of his previous memories was temporarily subdued, and Blu found one tiny shred of happiness to cling to. His children would go to any lengths to guide him through this hellish period of his life, and for that, he was eternally thankful.

God knows what Blu would have done had they not been by his side; had he never created them. He would most likely not have been standing in that hollow; he would've most likely been dead.

Blu crouched down onto his belly and waited for his two sons to return, all the while being soothed by Esperanza's wing-strokes. Blu felt himself grow drowsy and his head droop down, but a staccato burst of wing flaps chased his fatigue away.

He perked himself up and watched as Vicente and Ricardo alighted in the hollow, each clutching a juicy mango with one of their feet.

"We didn't want to bring you more that you could eat, so here you go." said Ricardo.

They nudged the two mangoes towards Blu and motioned for him to eat.

"Thank you once again. I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"Of course not, and you're welcome." countered Vicente.

Blu grabbed one of the yellow-green blobs at his feet and lifted it to his beak. He took small bites, enjoying the flavor of the insides as they met his tongue. He was only marginally hungry, but he didn't want to disappoint Ricardo and Vicente.

Besides, he needed to keep his strength up. His life was already in shambles, and starving himself definitely wasn't going to make it any easier to pull through.

He consumed the first mango completely, but no matter how hard he tried, he didn't have the heart to eat the second. He offered it to Esperanza, but she refused calmly, saying she would get her own later. Ricardo and Vicente ended up sharing it, and the succulent fruit was gone within a minute.

Blu took a peek outside, and the sun was fairly high above the canopy, shining especially bright in the cloudless azure sky. It was as if the sun was burning more fiercely to try and console the Spix's Macaw, to chase away the despair and loss that had been rooted in his soul.

On any other day, he would have welcomed the golden rays with open wings, but today... that was impossible. There was just too much negativity festering inside him to allow any kind of respite.

Blu knew that today was going to be one of the longest days of his life. He wanted no contact with anyone – save for his children – and he was still too unsure about flying to even attempt to go anywhere. His offspring offered to guide him to a pond they had discovered and allow him to clean up, but he declined the offer.

He was not the bird who could just sit and brood, but the nightmares seemed eager take over his brain and force him to think about them nonstop.

He had few options as to how to deal with his current situation.

The _last thing _he wanted to do was confront Jewel and demand answers, and he knew he wasn't ready for a meeting of that magnitude.

He needed to get his feelings out to someone, _anyone_, who could understand and help him cope, and maybe even treat his wounds. His muddled mind could think of only two people who could assist him in that respect: Linda and Tulio.

Blu decided that she would be able to provide him with love and comfort on a level that even his flesh and blood offspring could not.

Spending the remainder of the day at the aviary was appealing to him, and the only feasible course of action at the moment.

With his tattered mind made up, he turned to his three little miracles and declared, "If you don't mind, I am going to fly over to the aviary and go see Linda and Tulio."

"Can we stay with you, or do you want us to leave?"

"I need some alone time, Vicente. I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but that is all I ask of you. Still, I will need your help to guide me there. Can you do that much?"

They all nodded and replied, "Sure, Papa. We understand."

"Love is knowing when someone needs to be held and being there for them, but love is also knowing when to give them space."

"You couldn't have said it any better, Esperanza."

He stroked her face tenderly with his wing, and she nuzzled into it like a newborn lamb would nuzzle its mother.

Blu let out a half-confident sigh and hesitantly glided from the hollow. He moved fast enough to keep himself from stalling, but no more.

Ricardo and Vicente flanked him on either side, and Esperanza flew a few feet ahead. They expertly functioned as his secondary vision, and he navigated the jungle with relative ease. Their warnings helped him avoid running into an errant vine or colliding with a hidden tree.

At long last, the sloped roof of the sanctuary building peeked above the surrounding foliage, and the ivory facade flashed between the gaps in the undergrowth. They drifted languidly around to the front of the imposing building and landed on the dusty road.

Blu faced his faithful helpers and said, "Thank you so much for helping me. I must admit, love can make birds do strange things..."

They smiled faintly, and Ricardo replied, "Love is quite powerful, father."

"Indeed it is, son. It's a miracle to love and be loved, but when that love is disregarded..."

He did not need to finish the sentence for his babies to understand the hidden meaning.

An image of Jewel flashed in his mind - and being as he was so near the aviary - he witnessed her angelic form drifting towards him in divine splendor, as she had on the day they first met.

The emotions took over once again, a reminder of what once was, and feeble tears trickled from his eye and plopped onto the desiccated ground. The vision erupted in illusionary flames – an exact replica of the agony ignited by Jewel slashing his face – and he nearly fainted from the trauma.

_Oh Jewel... I want to come back to you... but how can I? You wronged me like no one deserves to be wronged. Our love is meaningless... a hollow bond... without substance. Why did you do this? If you can hear me... why? How do I move on? It's so hard to move on without you, but what else can I do?_

"Father, are you okay?"

Vicente's pleading query tore him from his tragic musings, and he did his best to regain his composure.

"I... I'm fine. There's so many questions I have that need answers, and Linda might be able to help me discover some of them. You three can fly back home now."

Blu waddled pitifully to the door, but Ricardo's voice stopped him.

"How will you get home? What if it's nighttime and we're not there to-"

"Relax, son. I will have Linda carry me home. I will be perfectly safe. You don't need to worry about me anymore today. You just go home and enjoy yourselves..."

"I love you, Papa."

"So do I."

"Me too."

"And I you, my amazing little miracles. I'll try to come by tomorrow..."

Three bursts of sound signaled that the three macaws had taken off, and small waves of dust swept past his feet.

Located near the foot of the door was a small plastic flap, a means of entry for Blu and his family that had been installed by Tulio. He forced his way past the flap, but when he was inside, his tail became pinched between the plastic and the lower edge of the hole.

_Just what I need. More trouble. Just something else that happened to me that I didn't deserve..._

He was perched on the rim of the square, and his tail was stuck straight out behind him. He pushed to try and get free, but the flap was unyielding. He wiggled from side to side, and he felt his tail inch forward, little by little.

He gave one last push, and he suddenly slipped free. Gravity took over, and before he could prepare himself to land on his feet, he met the ground. His wings and chest broke the fall, but his head jerked and clicked against the marble threshold.

His injured eye smacked against the floor, causing flakes of blood to fall away and send pain rippling throughout his body.

"Ouch! Oh God, that hurt! Linda, where are you?"

He got to his feet after hearing a door slam, and none other than Linda rushed up to him. Her smile twisted into a panicked frown upon observing Blu's condition, and she quickly jerked him up. She cradled him against her chest and dashed into the lab down the hall, where her husband was observing and taking notes on an injured Military Macaw.

"Tulio, Blu's been attacked by something! Come and look!"

He set the clipboard down rather abruptly and came to Linda's side. He adjusted his glasses and and shouted, "My God! Bring him over here so I can try to help him!"

He found an empty work area across the lab and donned latex gloves. Linda set Blu down on the cold linoleum and backed away to make room for Tulio. Now that he could focus more intently on Blu's condition, his mind was racing as to what had happened.

"His face is a disaster! Something cut his right eye, and there's dried blood everywhere. The other side is covered with bruises."

Knowing that the stale blood could be harboring infectious organisms, he grabbed a soft cloth and ran it under the nearby sink faucet.

"I need to clean your face, Blu. I'll try to be gentle..."

He gripped the macaw firmly with one hand and stroked the cloth over his head with the other. The macaw quivered in his grasp due to the discomfort, and Tulio allowed his wife to hold him instead, thinking it would help ease his struggles. It worked well enough to allow Tulio to remove all of the blood and see just how it had ended up there.

"Something cut into his eyelid, Linda! It looks like... claw marks. Why would he get into a fight with another bird? Unless..."

"Do you think... Jewel did this?"

"I can't say for sure, but that's what I'm thinking."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"The bruises should heal on their own, but his eyelid is sealed shut. I'll try to open it to see if the eyeball has suffered any damage."

Linda maintained her grip on Blu, and her husband placed his gloved fingers on his face. He slowly tried to peel the eyelid up, but Blu let out a deadly shriek and thrashed about. Linda, for fear of hurting him inadvertently, released her hands.

He attempted this two more times, but the macaw wouldn't stay still.

"There's not much I can do, Linda. I can disinfect the cuts and give him a gauze eye-patch, but he might be blind in that eye."

"Oh no. Why did this have to happen! My little Blu is is so much pain..."

"I can sedate him, if you want. It's the only way, Linda."

Blu apparently caught on to what he had said, and he backed desperately away across the counter.

"If that's what's best for him, go ahead. I just hope he won't hate us for this..."

He nodded, and after scrounging around in a cabinet, drew a small brown bottle out. He plucked a syringe from a drawer beneath the counter and drew some liquid from the bottle.

"Just grab him and hold him for a few more seconds, Linda. He'll be unconscious after a minute from the injection."

Blu found himself up against a window, and Tulio appeared like a mad scientist as he approached, with Linda just behind.

"No no no. I don't want to be messed with! Linda, don't do this!"

She fixed Blu with an apologetic gaze as she wrapped her hands around him. Blu, although distressed, would not dare bite his owner, and so he relaxed in her grasp, defeated.

A small prick in his back heralded the entrance of the needle and the injection of the medicine.

"Let him go now, honey. He'll be sleeping soon."

She drew her hands back and gave Blu one last pat on the head.

"I'll see you in a few hours, my big brave boy, and maybe you can tell me what happened."

Blu managed to nod a few times before a gooey blackness began to spread across what remained of his vision. His head swam as he lost consciousness, and he fell gently onto the counter.

* * *

><p>Tulio worked diligently on the peaceful macaw, washing the cuts out with hydrogen peroxide and carefully drawing back the eyelid. Using a magnifying glass, he noted three furrows on the surface of the macaw's eye, and his worst fears were confirmed.<p>

It was hard to say whether the eye would mend, but Tulio gave it a fifty-fifty chance.

Being as he didn't want to risk any secondary damage, he replaced the eyelid and taped it shut. After that, he taped a square of gauze over it and sent up a silent prayer along with Linda.

Tulio then surveyed the rest of Blu's body and did a vitals check, and his conclusions gave him a dash of hope. Blu had borne no additional damage, externally or internally, and since he had put Blu through a large dose of distress, did not give him the antidote to wake him.

He had carried the still form of Blu into the artificial jungle and nestled him comfortably in a tree hollow. As a final measure of repaying Blu for his actions, he lowered the lights and played a jungle sounds audio recording from the overhead speakers.

He fixed one of the cameras on the tree where Blu slept, and the two humans would periodically return to the control room to check if he had woken up yet.

Five hours following his examination, while Linda was on watch, she saw the electric blue pile of feathers writhe in the hollow and perch on the branch that lead up to it. Linda smiled gleefully and decided to watch her brave macaw for some time, before heading in there and trying to put the puzzle together...

* * *

><p>Blu awoke to the sounds of the rain forest, and as he slowly cleared the fog from his vision, he noticed he had been napping in a hollow. It wasn't his own hollow, that he was sure of.<p>

The second clue arose when he crawled drowsily from the hollow and peered out. The area was oddly dim, suffused with a cool yellow aura.

The rain forest ambiance continued to play, but Blu noticed that the sounds would repeat at regular intervals.

_Hmmm. This hollow isn't shaped like mine, the sunlight should be significantly brighter, and the music keeps looping over and over. I bet Linda or Tulio dropped me off in the... artificial environment. I guess I should try to attract their attention..._

He felt an odd stillness inside him, a surreal calm that was nestled in his soul. The agony and throbbing of his battered cranium was gone, and he believed Tulio had given him some medicine to help combat the pain.

Even now, his mind was slightly disorganized, and he almost lost his grip on the branch several times. He felt a nagging in the back of his mentality, reminding him of some sort of unfinished business.

_What did Linda say before I went unconscious? She wanted me to... tell her... something. To tell her... what... happened. Yes, that's it! She wants to find out who did this... to me..._

Blu's epiphany trailed off, and once again, a surge of raw, gut-wrenching emotion over took him. There she was again, the one who had given him someone to hold, given him purpose, and the one who had taken it all away.

Why was it that the entity he wanted so desperately to obliterate from his mind was always there to plague him with sorrow? Why was he forced to relive what his mate had done to him, how she had made him _feel_, when all he wanted to do was leave it all behind?

As the tears fell from his eye and fragmented down below on the cold floor, he knew why the memories of Jewel haunted him. He needed closure. He needed to confront her and decide how their future would unfold. He needed to know if she was truly sorry for her actions; if she didn't just apologize in the frenzy of the moment.

Until then, the stinging, crushing experiences would not be put to rest. An ultimatum had been issued for Blu, as well as Jewel, and it was up to them to mend their relationship. Blu was unaware of Jewel's physical and mental state, but surely it wasn't too different from his own.

_One of these days, I'll have to... find her, if she doesn't find me first. We have to sort this out... for better or worse. Only then can we turn this damn catastrophe into something... less life-wrecking._

Blu let out a subdued squawk and waited for someone to arrive. The lights doubled in brightness, casting sharp shadows across the walls and floor. Faster than he had expected, Blu heard the creak of a door being opened, and then the thud as it slid shut.

He looked slowly around and spied Linda ambling towards him from the left, barely visible due to the screen of ferns in her path. She pushed the fake plants aside and stopped at the base of the tree, looking up at him with a mix of relief and sadness.

He noticed what looked like a small stack of paper tucked under her left arm. He climbed carefully down the trunk using the staircase of wooden pegs and perched on her arm.

She walked over to the gently flowing river and sat down on a nearby log, stretching her feet across the azure river and resting them on the opposite bank. She then set Blu down on the ground next to her right leg.

"I apologize for for what happened back there, but it needed to be done. Are you feeling okay?"

"Not really. You'll see why in a minute. I need the paper..."

He waddled underneath her bent legs and tugged a sheet of paper loose with his beak. He carried it back to his former spot and placed it on the ground.

"Are you okay with telling me what happened? If you're not ready, I won't force you."

He squawked defiantly and made a writing motion with his foot.

"You have to know. I have to get it out. I need your help..."

"Okay then, here's a pencil."

She drew a pencil from her pocket and handed it to him.

He gazed down at the paper studiously and scribbled the events of the previous day.

As he wrote, Linda noticed wet spots forming on the paper, and she immediately grew tense with concern.

"It's okay, Blu, I'm right here. If you have to cry, just cry..."

She gave him a tender pat on his back, and he paused momentarily. Once her hand drew back, he resumed writing.

He didn't want to leave out any details, no matter how strange they sounded, so once his task was completed, he had used nearly all of the page.

He dropped the pencil with a click and stepped aside, motioning for Linda to pick up the paper. She raised the sheet closer to her face and read it carefully.

* * *

><p><em>In the lab, you guessed correctly. Jewel was the one who did this to me. Well, she was the one who blinded me, but I'll explain the bruises later. We went to the city yesterday to spend the evening together, just me and her. We went to a gathering consisting of dozens of other birds and talked.<em>

_Jewel became thirsty, so she went and got something to drink. She wanted to drink... liquor, but at first, I wouldn't let her. She got mad at me, so I had to give in. By the time we decided to leave, Jewel was pretty sufficiently inebriated, and she couldn't keep her beak shut!_

_I wanted to get her home as fast as possible, where I knew she would be safe. She was too out of it to fly, so we ended up walking home. It took us a long time to find the sanctuary, but we made it that far without any problems. I used the stars to guide us home, since I had no clue where we were._

_I found the clearing after awhile, but when I tried to convince Jewel to come, she wouldn't. She couldn't even think straight, so she said that our home was somewhere else. I tried my best to get her to listen, but it only infuriated her._

_She pushed me down twice and then head-b__utted me. Just to make sure I wouldn't follow her, she scratched my face, my eye included. She vanished into the jungle, and I was hurting so bad, I tried to knock myself out by hitting my head against a tree, which only gave me bruises._

_I decided to go after her, and I searched the jungle for about two hours. I didn't find her, so I just gave up and started to go home. However, I heard weird sounds coming from a banana tree, so I investigated their origins. That's when I found her, but she wasn't alone._

_She was... with another bird. She was... mating with that bird. She was so drunk, she thought that bird was me. I tried to leave, but I just couldn't. She came to her senses and tried to explain, but I was... too crushed to listen. I... left her and went back home._

_She... cheated on me, Linda. CHEATED ON ME! I don't know... what to do! I need your help! I am so torn up inside. I don't know how to pick up the pieces. I loved her to death... but I'm not so sure about that anymore._

_Do I try to get back together with her, or do I forget about her and move on? I still have my three kids, so at __least I can live for them..._

* * *

><p>Linda dropped the paper in her hand – and the paper buried under her arm - in astonishment and snatched Blu up immediately after.<p>

She cradled Blu gently in her arms and said, "I am so sorry, Blu! I can't imagine how you must be feeling right now! I know you think that your world has ended, but it hasn't. I will always be here for you, to help you through the bad times that life sends our way. I don't know much about cheating, but I do have some advice for you."

Blu peeked at her with his one good eye and blinked. He let out a soft squawk and nudged her arm with his head.

"Please tell me..."

"If you really, truly love her, go back to her. Do your best to help her fix the mistakes she made. If she decides that she would rather live on her own after all that... then let her. By then, you've done all you can, and the rest is up to her. Like you said, you have three children that still need their father. Don't abandon them, Blu. You have me, Tulio, and Fernando to live for as well. Just be the strong macaw I know you are and let God do the rest. One way or another, He will guide you out of this. And us humans will be there every step of the way to help. Don't ever forget that."

"I won't, Linda. I promise. I'll take your advice..."

He raised his right foot in the air, and he and Linda gently conducted their "handshake."

"That's my big, brave boy. I know you are sad, and I know you miss her, but we'll work this out. But for now, where do you want to go? Are you hungry?"

Blu pointed with his wing in the direction of the hollow, then patted his belly with the same wing.

"You want to go back into the hollow and have something to eat?"

Blu slowly nodded his head in response.

"Okay then, I'll put you back up there and bring you some food."

Linda stood up and walked the few feet back to the mock tree with Blu perched on her wrist. She stretched her arm out completely, and Blu was close enough to the hollow to grab on with his beak and climb into it.

He turned around and watch Linda disappear past the ferns. The gentle *click* of the door shutting signaled that she had left.

Blu waited patiently for her to return, his mind reeling from the melancholy he felt dancing around in there.

He was rejoicing in the fact that he had finally released his secrets and found a way to mend his heart. On the other hand, he was going to have to gather the courage to seek Jewel out and be the one that_ initiated_ the mending.

He knew it was going to be a trial by fire, and he would have to prepare himself for it.

Minutes later, Linda returned with a small ladder and set it down at the base of the tree. After making sure it was rooted firmly and wouldn't slip, she left the room. On her second entry, she brought with her a paper towel filled with something – the towel was poking out in several places, as if a jagged object was bundled inside it – and a small plastic cup with a straw dunked in it.

She steadily climbed the ladder and was now at eye level with Blu.

"I brought you some crackers and mango juice. I know you hardly ever use straws, but I don't want you knocking the cup over in here. You won't find sleeping in a pool of mango juice very comfortable."

He scooted back and gave her enough space to set the towel and cup down.

"Just call me if you need me, okay?"

"No problem, Linda. Bye."

"Bye, Blu..."

She vanished from sight and retrieved the pencil, paper, and ladder before leaving the room.

_Maybe... just maybe... everything will turn out alright. Maybe, with my help, Jewel will truly confess that what she did was so horribly wrong, and perhaps I'll still love her. I can somehow feel that she still loves me._ _We'll meet again and sort this all out..._

Blu dragged the towel away from the entrance and peeled it open, revealing a random pile of crackers. He slowly slid the cup back by pushing on it, and once he was situated, he ate and drank in mellow silence.

The lights had been dimmed once more - by Linda, he presumed – and the repetitive music had been silenced. The crackers filled his belly nicely, and the mango juice left a delicious aftertaste in his beak.

The medicine Tulio had administered several hours prior had worn off, and a fairly strong headache came rushing back. Blu did his best to fall asleep, and after ten minutes of tossing and turning, he finally succumbed.

His dreams led him on a journey that recapped every single moment of his life with Jewel, up until the day before tragedy occurred:

The adventure they had while trying to escape from the smugglers and remove the chain. The day Jewel's wing had healed and Blu had taught her to fly again. The unbridled joy of seeing his thee beautiful chicks being born. The day they had traveled to a hidden waterfall north of the city for their first anniversary. And lastly, only one day prior, when he and Jewel had told each other "I love you."

The dream terminated in a flash of light, and Blu fell into a virtual hurricane of longing. His emotions were pushed aside, and his mind cried out for her.

He was desperate to be near her, to feel her, to kiss her. He was dying to hear her heartbeat, look into her eyes, smell her delicious aroma.

He battled the urge to flee the aviary and scour the jungle until he dropped from exhaustion. He slowly reined that urge in, for he knew that in his compromised state, he possessed no chance of finding her.

His inability would lead to exhaustion, and that exhaustion would lead to his untimely death at the hands of a predator.

He would seek Jewel out in time, but that time was not now. Now was the time to contemplate how he would orchestrate their reunion, and how to deal with whatever emotions and actions that followed.

He stored these points in his head as he slept.

His mind needed to rest and recover, as did his body, so he shut down his mind and cast himself even deeper into a featureless, blank snooze.

* * *

><p>A soft grunting and scraping sound wound its way into Blu's sleeping brain, causing him to be pulled from his sleep. He gazed around, and the cup and towel were no longer cluttering the hollow. He deduced that Linda must have removed them and the noise had awoken him, but that theory was soon discarded.<p>

In the frightening silence of the man-made jungle, Blu heard the unmistakable *whoosh, whoosh* of wings churning the air. One minute the rushing sound would increase in volume, and the next minute it would fade away, as if the entity was engaged in a search for something... or _someone._

Blu grew very disturbed and tensed his body, awaiting for whatever creature was out there to approach him. A figure landed on the protruding branch just outside the hollow, silhouetted by the dusky light streaming in behind it.

As its distorted shadow fell upon him, a single sorrow-laced word cracked the silence: "Blu?"


	4. Ultimatum

**Chapter 4:Ultimatum**

It was Jewel.

The very same Jewel who had, in life, treated him to the highest of highs, and just recently, the lowest of lows.

She was _his_ everything, and he knew that he was _her_ everything. She had come back to set things straight, which saved him the trouble of being the one to confront her.

Nonetheless, he was not prepared for a conversation - with such dire implications – to come so _soon._ He had planned on seeking her out in a few more days, but now that was not necessary. She was _here_, looking straight at _him_, ready to spill her guts out and admit she was so horribly wrong.

"Blu? Is that you?"

Blu was desperately holding back the urge to self-destruct and scream out a demonic rant about every little detail about Jewel's treachery, but he willed himself to stay relatively calm. He would no doubt release his emotions, but at least he would release them carefully.

With a steady voice he replied, "Yes, it is, Jewel. I know why you came back, so let's hear it."

"Do you want me to come in?"

"Does it really matter whether you're out there or in here?" he replied stoically.

She did not reply, but she brought herself carefully into the hollow, standing one foot away from Blu. He was facing her only with his left side, keeping his gauze-padded eye invisible.

"Look, all I can do is apologize. You never deserved what I did, but I... can't take it back. I wish I could. I would do anything to rewind the clock and change the past, but I can't. You can't, I can't, no one can..."

"Then why did you do it in the first place? You knew what the alcohol would do to your brain. You knew you would lose control. You have a quick temper, Jewel! You think alcohol _helps_? Why? _Why_ didn't you listen to me?"

There was really no right answer for that question. It was a simple string of three letters, and yet it harbors enough power to confound even the greatest of minds.

"I... I don't know. I guess my... uh... I don't know what you call it. There was a tiny voice... in my head. It told me to drink..."

"So that's your big explanation? Your subconscious, huh? If it told you to dive into the sea, would you?"

"No... but..."

"But what?"

"But it was so hard... to ignore. I just... gave in..."

"Of course you did! I didn't want to bring out your bad side, so I let you drink. That's how I showed my respect for you, by letting you make your own choices, and look how you repaid me!"

Blu had a strong sense of what her next words would imply.

"Then part of it is your fault! You let me drink! Why weren't you firmer with me?"

"Because I know... wait, I _knew_ you. There's no telling what could've happened if your temper flared! You pushed me out of my chair for no reason at all."

"You think I can help that? You think I can change the personality I was born with! How shallow is that!"

"That's why I _let you _do your own thing! I kept you under control... for the most part... while you were drunk. I thought everything was fine. I thought I could get you home safe. I was so damn wrong..."

"Once again, _I'm sorry._ What else do you want me to do? We need to let the past stay in the past, damn it! Can you let that go for one hot minute, so we can try to figure out how to move on?"

"Finally! I thought you'd never ask, Jewel. Yeah sure, I'll let the past go, for now. It's etched onto my soul, the horror, the agony, the loss, and it will never truly leave me."

"Well, it won't leave me either! You think it's any easier for me? I'm going to do my best to move on, but it's going to be... so hard..."

"Then we need to settle this right now. You and me, adult to adult, husband to wife."

"Fine. I'll do it. I don't see any other option..."

Blu decided it was time to change gears and actually make some progress regarding their reunion.

"What would you want to happen?"

Jewel's heightened voice faded, and the tears began dripping slowly from her eyes, creating a steady rhythm of *plip, plip* on the floor of the hollow.

"I... I want to come back to you, Blu. I love you... so much! I know I wronged you beyond measure, but I can't live without you..."

As her words curled out into the air, her head dropped lower to the floor. Blu couldn't find a trace of doubt in her words, and his serious expression softened slightly.

As much as he hated what she had done, to see her in such a broken down state caused him deep-seated pain. She was crying not for herself, but for _him_, and Blu found the resolve to forgive her.

"Despite what you did, I just can't live without you either, Jewel. We both love each other more than life itself, and nothing could keep us apart forever. I will forgive you for that reason, because it hurts me to see _you _hurt."

"I want to be... by your side again, but if you don't want me to, I'll... understand. It's your choice... Blu."

For what it's worth, Jewel was correct. She wouldn't stay with him against his will, and he had to decide whether to allow her back or not.

"I... I want you back too, Jewel. I'll welcome you back into my life with open wings, if that's what you want."

She peered at him in the dim glow and whispered, "I... want that, Blu. I need you. I need to hear your heartbeat, because I know that it's beating for me."

The sad undercurrents in her pleading words melted the frost around his heart, and he tentatively drew up to her.

"It's okay, Jewel. Look at me..."

He raised her head with his wing, feeling her tears leave warm stains on his feathers. His face was inches from hers, and a cyclone of sorrow and joy raged deep in her eyes.

He felt her tense up as she caught sight of the gauze plastered to the side of his face, but she did not move away.

"I'll always love you. True love is pulling through the most disastrous times in life, and just the same, enjoying the most wonderful times in life. True love is doing both of those things... together. I would never be able to leave you behind, Jewel. I know you can't bear to see me hurting, and I can't bear to see you hurting. We've won the battle, Jewel. And now, we'll win the war..."

He pulled her head closer with his wing and planted an angelic kiss on her cheek.

"Oh God, why do I deserve you? You're so selfless... so handsome... so sweet..."

"If you don't deserve me, then I don't deserve you... and we both know that's impossible..."

She slowly raised her wings and folded them upon his back, pulling him close enough to bring their chests together. She laid her head against his chest, quaking from the comfort that the soft pillow of feathers provided.

There it was, the sound she adored like no other in the world – even more so than the sound of his voice. The steady *thump, thump* of his heart repeated endlessly as she listened, a soothing beat that threatened to lull her to sleep.

Before the aura of drowsiness pulled her under, she drew her head back slightly and focused her attention of the rough white square bound to the right side of his dreamy-yet-bruised face.

She touched the grainy surface gently with her wing, and she saw his good eye blink rapidly. She felt his body stiffen, and she deduced that she had sent a jolt of pain through his body.

She could only imagine the trauma sequestered away beneath the gauze, and once again, her emotions cracked and sent forth the tears.

With all of the liquid that was spouting from her eyes, Blu was awed at how a hydroponic garden wasn't springing forth all around them.

"Your eye... I'm _so sorry_, Blu. I didn't mean to hurt you..."

"I'm fine, Jewel. At least I'm still able to feel..."

"Is it... ever going to heal?"

"I... don't know. Tulio... tried to open it. I couldn't handle the pain... I'd rather die than endure that again. Maybe it's better if it just stayed shut..."

"If I could trade you... one of my eyes... I would..."

"You would?" replied Blu with joyous exasperation.

"Of course, my love-hawk."

"Even if you can't be noble in deed, at least you can be noble in word."

"I do my best, Blu," said Jewel with a dreamy smile. She continued, "Well, being as I can't restore your vision, I'll give you the next best thing."

She stretched her neck and kissed the material ever so gently. Blu felt a warm jet of sensation flood his face, chasing away the discomfort from her previous touch.

He stroked her head feathers and replied, "Thank you, my angel. That felt lovely."

He dried her tears with his wing and laid his head on her shoulder.

"What do we do now, Blu? There's one last problem we need to solve."

Without lifting his head, he countered, "What problem is that, sweetheart?"

The words were hesitant to crawl from her beak, and this topic was the one she was most unsure about.

"What if... what if I become pregnant?"

This query did provoke a reaction in Blu, and he brought his gaze up to hers.

"If you do... then... we'll have to raise the chicks. They shouldn't be expected to pay for the wrongs you committed. We'll help them grow strong, we'll teach them all we know, we'll be there for them, always."

"But what happens if they... look different from you and I? What if they ask questions?"

"We'll have to tell them they are special. When the time comes, when we are sure that they're ready for the truth, we'll tell them."

"But they're going to be heartbroken, Blu! To learn that you're not their real father..."

"It won't be easy, Jewel, but we'll figure it out. Besides, that's years in the future. For now, let's just cherish what we have. That way, both you and I can heal the damage to our souls and our minds. The war is over, and as crazy as it may seem, we won, honey."

"I believe you, Blu. I'll never forget your advice. I'll love you from now until the end of time. I swear I'll never do anything to hurt you... ever again."

"As will I my, love."

Blu dragged her deeper into the hollow and granted her a more adventurous kiss.

After their beaks parted, leaving their bodies glowing with ethereal love, Jewel declared, "I'm so... happy, Blu. I thought my world was over, that I had pushed it over the edge, but you helped me bring it back."

"You did the same for me, my angel. That's how we know our love for each other isn't just skin deep. It ties our souls together, unifies our minds. If even death can't sever the bond, what makes you think that the pitfalls of life can do any better?"

"They can't, Blu. We'll be together on Earth, and we'll be together in Heaven. I just hope that we won't end up there for decades to come."

"That we can not be sure of, so we must live each day to the fullest. As long as you're in my wings, that's all I could ask for."

"Do you want me to leave, or would you rather I stay here and keep you company?"

"It is kind of lonely in this artificial jungle. Is that a valid answer to your query?"

"Yes it is, my love-hawk..."

A third kiss supercharged their bodies, and after they toppled over, Blu found himself pinned underneath Jewel. They scooted back as far as they could go and rested comfortably against the rear wall. She nuzzled into his neck as he worked his right wing under her body.

"How are Ricardo, Esperanza, and Vicente?"

"They're doing just fine, but this ordeal has left them shaken up. They were waiting in my... no, _our _home, after the tragedy last night, and they slept beside me. I told them what had happened this morning. It chilled them to the core, Jewel. I think we need to go see them sometime in the very near future."

"Were they... angry for what I did?"

"They showed no indication that I picked up on, but I'm sure they are. They hold you and I in high esteem, and for their beloved Mama to act so evil, it must have angered them."

"As much as I want to, I'll never forgive myself, Blu. This catastrophe was entirely my fault! Neither you nor they were meant to be a part of it. We've done our best to patch things up, but our three precious children are still out there, all torn up inside."

"And that's why we have to give them closure. Whenever you're ready, both you and I will go to them. The last imperfection in this family, _our family_, will be dealt with. After that, slowly but surely, things will return to normal."

"Without a doubt, my love. Are you ready to sleep?"

"I'm only as ready as you are, Jewel."

"Well then, I'll see you when we wake up."

"I'll be looking forward to it..."

Blu and Jewel brought their chests together and lulled each other to sleep with the slow undulating whispers of their breathing.

The dim lights and the fuzzy blanket of silence that shrouded them, along with the entire room, had become their own little slice of heaven.

Their two hearts beat in unison, and although they had been truly shattered before, they had slowly begun to mend, one tiny shard at a time. The pieces twisted about and fused together, as if guided by an unseen hand.

Their lives had been teetering on a precipice above the abyss of doom, but they had been pulled away and returned to the meadow of everlasting joy. They were destined to be together from the start, and no worldly force could subjugate that fact.

They were eager to revel in the relaxation of sleep, but they were just as eager to fly into the following sunrise and begin their lives anew. The coming day would mark the termination of one journey for the two Spix's Macaws, and the initiation of another.

* * *

><p>After switching his gaze from the live camera feed to his watch, he noticed it was 8:00 at night. Tulio had relieved Linda of her watch an hour ago, but throughout that entire hour, Blu did not emerge from the hollow once.<p>

_He must have fallen asleep_, mused the ornithologist as he stared once again at the monotony of the tree that contained Blu's hollow. _The crackers and juice she gave him must have been good! There's nothing like sleeping in a comfy nest all by yourself after a nice meal. Still, I wonder if his eye will ever heal. Jewel gave him a terrible corneal abrasion. Blu and Jewel's lives are in such a mess right now..._

Derailing that particular train of thought – and sending up another prayer for Blu's recovery – he brought his watch up to his face once more. It was 8:03.

_Well, I better go bring Linda in here. It's her turn to come and keep watch over that precious Spix's Macaw. On top of that, my bladder is killing me!_

Tulio pushed off of the leather arms of the chair he was reclined in and made for the door – with a certain haste due to his need for the restroom – leaving the chair to spin around languidly as he slid the door shut.

It was deathly quiet in the control room - save for the treble drone of the television screen and the occasional chirp of a trapped cricket.

The solid door creaked open and Linda walked in, but not before giving her husband a parting kiss.

She dropped heavily into the leather seat and rested her head on her left arm, which was in turn resting on the cold steel control panel.

A steaming mug of tea sat a foot away on her right. It would take a good ten minutes for the tea to relinquish its heat to the air and cool off, so Linda occupied herself by maintaining an unflinching vigil on the screen.

_I hope you're okay, Blu. I love you. Just sleep as long as you want. Give yourself the rest you so desperately need..._

During Tulio's previous watch, she had awoken him by entering the surveillance room and retrieving the empty towel and drained cup that had provided Blu with sustenance.

It was the highlight of that hour, for he was able to watch his lovely wife mill about in real time. She knew that he was watching, and she had peered up at the tiny spherical camera mounted on the wall and blown him a tender kiss. He smirked as she left the room, towel, cup, and ladder in hand.

As Linda stared at the feed, devoid of sound or motion, she realized that steadfast observation such as this was incredibly boring – and as crazy as it sounded to her, tiresome.

She took to blowing on the ceramic mug to cool it off faster, knowing that the warm liquid she would soon be able to drink would stimulate her senses and keep her from drifting off.

She threw a glance at the gold watch inset with tiny diamonds – Tulio's gift to her on their fifth anniversary - on her right arm and noted the time. It was 8:17.

She and her husband had agreed to cycle their observation periods until 11:00, at which point they would go to bed for a well-deserved nap.

She was waiting for Blu to wake up so that she could check to see if he was in any way uncomfortable or if he needed anything.

At long last, Linda brought the mug to her lips and tipped it back slowly, allowing the dreamy sweetness of the warm tea to flood her throat. A rush of sensation perked her up in both body and mind, and she sat noticeably straighter in the chair, her eyes glued intently on the sizable screen before her.

However, Blu did not once materialize from the hollow, and the minutes ticked by ceaselessly. He was too deep in the hollow to be seen from the camera's viewpoint, and even brightening the dimmed-down lights wouldn't bolster the situation any more.

By 8:30, Linda had consumed her container of tea, and she vanished from the room to retrieve another – but not before stopping for a bathroom break.

She re-entered the room at 8:40 and resumed her playing of the waiting game. The cup of tea was gone ten minutes later, and by nine o'clock, Linda, in her boredom, had slumped over onto the panel.

She was not able to dream for long, because a light tap on her shoulder caused her to jerk awake. Her right arm – which had been utilized as a makeshift pillow for her head – pushed the cup from the panel. Tulio bent down just in time and deftly caught it, preventing it from shattering on the grainy concrete floor.

"Well, that was a nice catch, honey..." said Linda groggily as she straightened her silver-rimmed glasses.

"Thank you! Being an ornithologist, I must be able to deal with any situation promptly, be it animal-related or otherwise..." replied Tulio as he smiled at his wife.

As much as she hated having to end her watch prematurely, she had been rendered sufficiently tired, and she needed to rest.

"Tulio, I'm sorry, but I need to head off to bed now. Can you handle being in here for two hours straight?"

He pulled Linda gently from the chair and countered, "I have stayed up far later... and far longer... than this dear. One time, two years before I met you, I had ten injured and sick birds to take care of!"

"Where were the rest of your staff?"

"They had wanted to stay and help, but I made them go home at midnight. I was up until the next morning monitoring them and treating them nonstop, Linda. I can handle two measly hours, I assure you."

Her face lit up with genuine awe at his tale of unswerving dedication.

"Okay then. Good night honey! I'll see you at eleven... if I'm not asleep by then."

"As will I, dear. Good night."

He gave her a parting kiss and led her to the door.

However, a soft, downtrodden noise vibrated in their ears, and they whirled around to the TV screen. Their hearts were sent thudding with apprehension as they noticed none other than Jewel perched just outside Blu's hollow.

"Oh my God! Look who it is! How did she get into the enclosure?"

"I must have left the door open slightly after I got the stuff from Blu's hollow. What do we do now? Do we intervene, or do we leave them alone?"

Tulio contemplated the possible answers to her query. On the one hand, their meeting would've had to occur _sometime_, and they wouldn't dare postpone it, now that Jewel had shown up – albeit unexpectedly. On the other hand, Blu was compromised and in pain, and if her disturbance caused them to go at each other with their talons and beaks, the results could be disastrous.

"I... think we should just let them be, Linda. I don't think Blu could bring himself to retaliate against Jewel, but if it comes to that, we can rush in there and separate them at once. "

"I trust your judgment, honey. You know more about birds than I ever will..."

Tulio smiled momentarily before placing his hands on Linda's shoulders and focused his attention on the camera feed.

Jewel had slipped inside the hollow while the humans had conversed, and there seemed to be no violence of any kind going on at the moment. There was, however, plenty of raucous squawking, and the two humans where thankful they were on this side of the spectacle.

The shrieking continued for roughly ten minutes, and then died down to a much more gentle level.

Jewel was still visible just inside the hollow, and Tulio zoomed the camera in for a closer look.

"I think the worst part is over, Tulio. They must be working things out right now. Can you raise the volume on the audio?"

He nodded and located one of the sliding switches. The slider functioned in the same manner as a rheostat, but it had been redesigned to provide control over the audio level. He crawled the slider towards the top of the groove it rested in, and the audio came through the speakers with more clarity.

The sounds coming from one of the pair were quaking with emotion, and the sounds that followed in reply were more husky in nature.

"I bet Jewel is having a hard time with all of this. She sounds so... troubled. Blu doesn't sound too happy either..."

"Would you act any different if you were in her situation, Linda?"

"Honestly, no. But for me, it's kind of hard to truly imagine what that feels like, being as I haven't cheated on you. There's just no comparison between the two."

"That is a very valid point. But just for the record, I would probably act no different than Blu. I would demand answers, of course, but above all, I would do my best to forgive her."

"And I would do my best to try and set things right with Blu. There's no doubt that those two Spix's Macaws mean the world to each other, and they would never be able to stay away from each other for too long. I admire Jewel's bravery in being the one to confront Blu, instead of the other way around. She truly wants to be back in his life..."

"Those are wise words, Linda. I couldn't have put it any better myself."

After their conversation terminated, they watched Jewel move deeper into the hollow, vanishing from the prying eye of the camera. A brief silence followed, and although the humans thought the two macaws were getting intimate, the squawking resumed, still in hushed tones.

Both their voices carried no trace of negativity, and they actually sounded tender.

After twenty straight minutes of the gentle audio, Tulio flashed a glance at his watch.

"It's nine thirty-five, Linda. How about we stay and watch until ten o'clock? After that, we'll head off to bed. I'm pretty sure the storm has passed between those two."

"Fine by me, Tulio..."

The thick silence that suffused the enclosure prior to Jewel's presence had returned, and the tense excitement that had been built up was being siphoned away by the minute.

They presumed the two Spix's Macaws had fallen asleep, and Tulio and Linda felt compelled to imitate them.

"Come on, beautiful. It's nine fifty-five. Let's go get some shut-eye."

"Right behind you, handsome."

Tulio switched off the television with a simple press of a button on the control panel, and then Linda followed her husband out of the room, the empty ceramic mug gripped firmly in her left hand.

He paused just outside of the room while waiting for her to drop off her cargo in the sink and turn off the lights.

A soft clink resounded, and she turned the corner into the murky hallway.

Her husband took her hand and led her down the hall and finally into the bedroom, the bed squeaking as they climbed into it. They pulled the burgundy comforter - printed with peach-colored roses – over themselves and snuggled close together.

Tulio kissed the back of Linda's head and whispered, "Good night, and I love you. Rest easy, Linda. They'll be alright."

"Right back at you, handsome. They're safe in each other's wings, and that's where they belong..."

The mercury crescent of the moon was hanging low in the eastern sky, its paradisiacal light filtering through the viridian curtains that shrouded the window. The pure light fell upon her face, and the moon was oriented just so that it appeared as a smile in the night.

It took mere minutes for the trance-like lucidity to cast her into the realm of sleep. She slept soundly and dreamed ambrosial dreams, knowing that the two revered macaws had finally chased away the cloud of tenebrosity that had hung between them.

As far as she could tell, their lives had started down the path of normalcy once again, and for that, she was truly and utterly pleased.

* * *

><p>Blu and Jewel awoke the next morning rested and recharged. The expressions on their faces as they locked eyes with each other was a mix of infatuation and tenderness. A soft kiss they shared, and then they took the time to clean each other's feathers in a dreamy preening session.<p>

There was not a trace of apprehension between them, and the scene was bordering on intimate. Even though their love for each other had been restored to near perfection, they weren't yet ready to engage in _anything_ close to copulation.

Once their feathers were sleek, stout, and clean of debris, they trudged over to the rim of the fake hollow and perched themselves side-by-side, on the branch just beneath it.

"Today is zero hour once again, Jewel. Are you ready to confront our children and try your best to appease the disgust and bewilderment they feel towards you?"

"Better late than never, Blu. Oh, it's like last night's meeting all over again. I just hope they'll accept my sincere apologies."

"It may not happen as soon as you wish for it to, but it _will _happen, my love. Just set the ball in motion, and it will eventually pick up speed. They shouldn't expect for you to give them more than what's required."

She snuggled her head against his neck and replied, "I know, handsome. All I have to do is set things in motion, and time will take care of the rest, right?"

"Correct, my temptress. Do you want to see Linda and Tulio, or would you rather head straight to our children?"

Jewel didn't even feel the need to contemplate her answer. She had just woken up, and she hadn't fully prepared herself for the enormity of the coming meeting yet.

"I... think we should see Linda and Tulio first. I'm still a bit apprehensive, and well... scared."

Blu peered down at her with gleaming confidence in his eyes.

"Everything will be alright, my love. I'll be right there with you," he tipped his head down and kissed her forehead. "And I'll never leave you behind."

"I wouldn't change that for the world."

"Of course you won't. You and I are still chained to each other birds. Now come on, let's see if those two humans are awake..."

Blu rose into a delicate glide and made a beeline for the steel door. He touched down and surveyed the situation, and his mate alighted moments later.

There was a slim gap between the edge and the frame, and he worked his left foot in between them carefully and pulled. Jewel then assisted by pulling on the doorknob with her feet, using reverse wing-beats to give her leverage. The gap widened to a few inches due to their combined effort, and they slipped through stealthily.

The house was bathed in a mellow glow from the young sun, and the hallway they emerged into was decently lit.

Blu scooted closer to Jewel and whispered, "They're still asleep. The sun is up though, so that should change very soon. Shall we wait in the living room for the two _Homo sapiens _to awaken and pinpoint our whereabouts?"

Jewel smirked and replied, "We shall..."

The macaws walked down the hall wing-in-wing, and upon turning the corner into the living room, they perched upon the rear edge of the tan leather three-seater. The wait took longer than expected, and the macaws both found themselves claw-tapping incessantly.

Eventually, the sound of the bedroom door opening reverberated throughout out the house, and the two macaws turned towards the source to see two disheveled humans lope down the hall.

They gave squawks of salutations to Linda and Tulio, and the humans perked up at the noise and the sight of the two macaws.

"Well, good morning, you two..." greeted Linda with a yawn.

"I see that you managed to sort things out. How are you feeling?" added Tulio.

Two mellow squawks heralded the answer.

"It's about nine fifteen. How about we all have a nice family breakfast?" asked Linda.

"If the macaws are up for it, then I'm up for it." stated her husband.

Blu and Jewel left the couch and perched side by side on Linda's arm.

"That settles it, then! Let's go to the kitchen and get busy. You two can watch us prepare breakfast, okay?"

The two macaws nodded resolutely in response.

Before Linda and Tulio began milling about the kitchen, Blu and Jewel landed next to the sink, which was embedded in the central island.

The humans worked diligently as they made sunny side up eggs for themselves, and small pancakes for the pair of avian creatures.

Once all was completed, Tulio and Linda settled at the table and dug in, and the macaws ate where they stood with equal fervor.

"Oh... mmm... this is really good!"

Blu could hardly talk, for his beak was clogged with gooey, syrupy, half-chewed pancakes. Blu had transformed himself into a clown factory, and a revolting one at that. Jewel was not impressed.

"Tyler Blu Gunderson, swallow your food! I'm about to lose my appetite!"

He froze at Jewel's commanding words, and the lump of pancakes slid down his throat. Naturally, his neck was of too small a width, and the lump lodged itself halfway down.

Blu made gagging noises, and at first Jewel thought it was all a show.

That notion was obliterated when he fell onto the counter, legs flailing desperately. She donned a panicked expression and rushed to his side. Tulio and Linda flung themselves against the island moments later.

"Blu is choking! Do something, Tulio!"

"I don't want to hurt him! Let Jewel handle it."

Jewel climbed onto his belly and began jumping up and down steadily. The ball of food seemed to inch up his throat, and Jewel rammed her head into Blu's chest as a last measure.

The sticky ball shot out and plopped abhorrently onto the marble surface.

After he drew a deep breath, Blu's body was racked with convulsive coughs and splutters.

"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"I... don't think... so."

"Here, let me help you up."

Jewel propped him up on his feet and rubbed his back with her wing.

"You scared me, Blu. You scared Linda and Tulio too. I thought I was going to lose you again!"

"No shit! You think I... wasn't scared? I couldn't... breathe!"

Jewel was too worried about his safety to care about his snide remark.

"If you would've used better manners, this wouldn't have happened."

Her tone was caring, but also matter-of-fact.

"Yeah. I'll keep that in mind..."

Tulio and Linda gave him a few gentle pats, and Linda scooped up the saliva-drenched glob with a paper towel and dropped it into the trash. They ambled back to the table and resumed their meal – albeit uneasily, throwing furtive glances at Blu as they did so.

"Are you still hungry?" queried Jewel as she stared at the last remaining pancake on Blu's mini-plate.

"Of course I am! I almost choked, but whatever, I'll have another! God, I love sarcasm..."

He stared down harshly at the plate, as if he was blaming the pancake for his folly, then fixed Jewel with the exact same glare.

Jewel swallowed the manageable chunk in her beak and marched over to Blu.

"Hey, that was _your _fault! Don't give me that look. You better straighten up, mister."

Blu's raging gaze melted, and he shrank back visibly.

"Fine, I'm sorry. I'll conduct myself in a more appropriate manner, for I do not want to dishevel the bird that I have pledged my life to."

"That's more like it. Now, once again, are you hungry?"

"Not anymore. Why?"

"Because I am. Give me your pancake."

Blu scooted back and allowed her to slowly and carefully consume what would have been _his_ meal.

Jewel had eaten all three of hers and the last of his. Her hunger had increased, and this observation gave Blu pause.

_I don't think I like where this is going. I think Jewel may be... pregnant. Perhaps yesterday's trauma gave her an appetite. Maybe she was too torn up to eat anything prior to her visiting me. Only time will tell..._

"What are you looking at? Are you in one of those thinking spells again?"

Blu shook his head and broke the trance.

"Whoops! Yeah, I was in a thinking spell. It was... nothing. Do you want to head out, now that _ your _belly is full?"

Jewel wasn't entirely convinced, but she opted to not push the issue. Besides, Blu was right. There were more pressing matters at hand.

"Why not? I just want to get this over with and put this whole damn mess in the past..."

"Well then, let's say goodbye to them..."

Blu and Jewel strode over to the edge of the marble and chirped gently. The humans – who were busy setting their plates in the sink and washing their hands - paused their motions and looked up.

Blu raised his right foot, and Linda got the hint. She approached him and fist bumped with him. Jewel received a few strokes on her head feathers.

She leaned down closer to them and said, "Goodbye you two. Be careful, and always think twice before you do something... yeah you get the point. I love you both, and I _never _ want to see either of you hurting, ever again."

The macaws nodded in compliance.

"And you," declared Linda as she pointed at Blu, "take care of that eye. I prayed that it would heal, and maybe you'll get yourself a miracle."

The two macaws turned away and spread their wings for takeoff, but Tulio's exclamation stopped them short.

"Wait! You just reminded me, Linda. I need to change Blu's gauze patch. I'll be right back..."

Tulio walked rapidly down the hall and disappeared into the lab where Blu's first patch had been installed.

Blu shuddered, knowing that a miasma of pain would result from the tape being peeled away from his eye. He hung his head, downtrodden, and wrapped his wings around himself as if a private blizzard raged within his body.

"Hey, it'll be okay. Your angel will be right next to you."

She drew herself up beside him and planted a soft kiss on his beak.

"Thanks... honey. Even it'll feel like my face is being burned, your touch will cool the fire somewhat..."

Not long after his voice trailed off, Tulio returned and stopped in front of the island. His hands were gloved, an all-too-familiar white square was pinched in his left, and a pair of tweezers were grasped in his right.

"It's going to hurt, but I'll work as fast as possible."

Blu nodded dejectedly, but he did not to be restrained. That was Jewel's task now.

He buried his beak in Jewel's neck as the hand reached out to him.

The tweezers would do a much better job of securing and steadily removing the translucent tape than his fingers would. Tulio removed the left strip of tape first, and then the right, taking care not to strip Blu's feathers as he did so.

Blu shrieked into Jewel's neck and squeezed her tightly as the tape peeled off, for it pulled on his wounded eyelid. Had he not done so, the screams would have plagued them all with a bout of tinnitus.

Jewel's neck grew damp with his tears, but after just one minute, the ordeal was over. Once the agony had subsided, Blu drew his head away from Jewel and blinked mournfully.

Tulio then did a quick check of his marred face. The eyelid was bruised, but the cuts seemed to have healed and scabbed over. The three parallel, jagged slices began just above the eye, crossed the eyelid, and terminated just below it.

It appeared to Tulio that they would eventually be repaired with scar tissue, and the result would be a permanent tattoo-like mark.

He wistfully padded Blu's eye with the gauze once more and taped it back securely. He told the quaking macaw to return in three days for a check up.

The birds then turned and made their way over to the flap in the toasty front door, slipping through it with ease.

They altered their flight path by 180 degrees and glided above the aviary, towards the heart of the Blu Bird Sanctuary.

Their flight was silent, save for the scattered, pain-laced sniffles of Blu. He was in too much discomfort to talk, and Jewel was doing her best to throw together a consolation speech for her children.

The flight seemed to drag on forever, but the trio of trees eventually showed their faces through the undergrowth. The left and right trees were unoccupied, and so the macaws checked the middle tree last.

Three forms were hunched over in the far corner, enjoying what looked to be a morning meal composed of starfruit and berries.

A wave of shame and apprehension threatened to choke Jewel, but she kept the emotions at bay.

The children were disturbed by the noise of the two macaws' entry, and as they turned to face them, three half-eaten fruits fell to the floor of the hollow.

Jewel inhaled meekly and declared, "Hello, my children. There's something we need to discuss..."


	5. Ultimatum, Part 2

**Chapter 5:Ultimatum, Part 2**

Six pairs of eyes cast harsh glares at Jewel; it caused her to flinch.

Blu was right; the frustration and bewilderment they had so carefully hidden from him was being forced upon his mate.

"Why did you do those things to Papa?" demanded Ricardo.

"I thought you loved him. I thought you loved _us_!" added Vicente.

"It's not fair! Why didn't you listen to him?" concluded Esperanza.

Jewel was on the verge of tears, but Blu flashed her a glance and she steadied her nerves.

"Listen, I know I was wrong... oh so wrong! But like I told your father, the past is set in stone. None of us can change it. All I ask of you, my children, is that you find it in your hearts to forgive me. Can you do that much? Please?"

The three macaws were hesitant to answer. She had plagued their family with agony and strife, and forgiveness was not easily won. Still, their father was behind her, soothing her, and the fact that they had made up did count for something.

"We hate what you did, Mama. We don't hate _you._ We will always love you, but it will be impossible to forget how you made us feel."

"I know, my sweethearts. I will always love you too. I will never forgive myself, no matter how much I try to. There's a hole in here," Jewel pointed to her chest, "that will never be filled. It was all my fault, and that is something I must deal with until my heart stops beating. But for now, there's something I need to ask you."

"What is that, mother?"

"I miss you all dearly, and I want to be back in your lives. I need to hold you again. I need to see the love in your eyes you once had for me return. Please, I need you..."

That was Jewel's tipping point. She hung her head and smashed the internal dam that held back her tears.

"It's okay, honey. I'm right here."

Their father was stroking their mother's quivering form with his wing, and he flashed them a glance that seemed to say, "Well?"

Ricardo, Esperanza, and Vicente locked eyes with each other for several seconds. Their expressions were contemplative, but they were also tinged with pain.

Their mother had returned to set things straight, and she had jumped right to the point. That revealed that she had a facet of bravery inside of her, and that bravery stunned her children. She had committed a grievous crime, but she returned without reasonable delay to try and come to terms with her children.

A side her children never knew existed had just revealed itself. The tears her mother was shedding had convinced them that she was truly making an effort, and that she spoke no words but true ones. It caused them deep-seated pain to see her in distress, and there was only one way to quell it: they would wholeheartedly forgive her.

Mama?" "Yes, dear *sniff* son?"

"I... I mean we... are going to forgive you. We can't stand seeing you cry. It makes us want to shed tears as well. Since you and Papa are back together, we will do the same with you..."

Her lead lifted slightly, just enough for her to be able to see her three caring children.

"Thank you. *sniff* I cried very much when I saw your father as well. He was hurting then too. *sniff* I am just thankful that you decided to forgive me. That makes me feel a little better inside..."

The three bold macaws approached her and hugged her tenderly. Jewel spread her wings and enfolded them around her children just the same.

"I love you, Mama. Please don't cry." said Esperanza.

"So do I." declared Vicente.

"Now we can be a happy family again." concluded Ricardo.

Jewel drew her head back to look at them all at once, the flow of tears diminishing by the second.

"Thank you... so much. I can't live without your father, and I can't live without you three. All five of us need to be together, no matter what happens. If we're not, life just isn't the same anymore. Life isn't complete..."

We understand, mother." they replied softly.

"We'll always be together. It's time to start fresh and forget about the bad things in the past. We need to focus on the future instead." said Esperanza.

"I agree completely. Your father and I are so blessed to have children like you."

They cracked glorious smiles, and as she swiveled her heads towards Blu, that same expression was plastered on his face.

"The storm has passed, honey. A new future awaits us, and we will be its designers. I think there's one last thing that they need to know about."

Her eyes widened at his remark, but she donned a determined face and turned away.

"What are you talking about, Papa?"

Jewel drew a deep breath and said, "There's a chance that I'll become... pregnant. If that happens, your father and I are going to raise the chicks as if they were... our own. There's nothing else we can do."

A flash of shock crossed their faces, and they sat up slightly straighter than before.

"So, we may have more brothers and sisters?"

"Yes, Vicente. I will do my best to raise them, but knowing that your father did not create them will... make that difficult."

"I'll be there to help you, and I'm sure my two brothers will too. The chicks still deserved to be loved and cared for and taught well."

"Those are wise words, Esperanza."

"Thank you, Papa."

A tense cloud of silence remained in the hollow, but it was an upbeat feeling rather than a nervous feeling. Jewel drew away from her children and moved deeper into the hollow, with Blu following just behind.

They let the silence roll on as if to let the gravity of their reunion sink in and establish itself firmly in their minds.

Blu caved in the silence by asking, "Who's up for a lovely breakfast? All of these... unsettling conversations has given me quite an appetite."

"That sounds just fine, my love. Do you want to come along, children?"

"Sure!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Okay then, let's get going. The morning hours only last so long..." cautioned Blu.

The macaw family filed out of the central tree and joined each other in flight.

The ethereal bond between them all had been bolstered immensely, its condition restored. The elation and relief that boiled within their hearts was evident in the strength of their wing-flaps as they searched for a dependable breakfast.

The jungle was in full bloom, and the fauna it had so expertly concealed during the night abounded everywhere.

Families of every species of macaw imaginable chatted in the canopy and flitted about between trees. Frogs could be seen hopping about below every so often, snatching up careless insects that stopped to rest on the trunks of the mighty trees. Lizards sunned themselves under the gaps in the canopy that allowed sunlight to filter through.

This tantalizing display was the epitome of happiness.

This is what life was all about; the freedom to rejoice with friends and family, to breathe the air and smell the world, to embrace the wonders of the rain-forest.

That harmonious energy resonated in the hearts of every single creature, and most strongly so in the five Spix's Macaws that were inevitably overcome by it.

They landed in a tree laden as heavily with berries as it was with macaws. The branches sagged beneath the weight, and the clusters of birds all exchanged greetings and whipped up conversations.

The quintet of aquamarine macaws munched readily on the assorted berries, as did the dozens of other birds on all sides of them.

The heartache and frustration was obliterated; _this_ was their redemption, a silent truth that everything was looking up.

Their bellies were growing fuller by the minute, but still they ate.

"What is up with these berries? I would eat the whole tree if I could! So luscious..."

"Agreed, Jewel! It makes me think of a certain meme I found on the Internet."

Four discombobulated stares prevented Blu from tossing a berry into his beak.

"What on earth is a meme, father?"

"I'll explain later, Ricardo. What matters right now is that your mother is, in fact, utilizing the meme known as 'Om nom nom.' That's the sound one makes when consuming ridiculously good food!"

Melodious laughter ensued from the three macaws, and Esperanza nearly tumbled from the branch in glee.

"I'll show you om nom... whatever!"

A devilish and playful Jewel bit her berry in half and tossed it at Blu. It splatted audibly on the left side of his face and slid off, leaving a cherry-red trail down his face and neck. Now it was Jewel's turn to laugh.

"Ha ha! Take that, mister! Oh man, this is rich!"

"Yeah, it sure is funny alright. All the better for me, since you'll be the one... cleaning it off, honey!"

Blu crept across the branch and placed the stain inches away from Jewel.

She leaned in to his ear and whispered, "I'll take care of it when the kids aren't around, handsome. I think I'll like the taste of Blu-flavored berry..."

She drew away tauntingly, and Blu shuddered with anticipation.

His children ceased their chuckles and asked, "Papa, is something wrong?"

"Not at all! Your mother and I were just deciding on how to best remove this stain from my face. We should be able to find a pond around here and wash it off."

His blatant lie earned acceptant nods from his children, and he breathed a massive sigh of relief.

The macaws went back to eating, and not five minutes later, no another berry was able to fit into their stomachs. They said goodbye to their neighbors – who were giving them sly stares – and decided to head to Blu and Jewel's hollow for a change.

The flight across the kaleidoscopic jungle burned off some energy, but their stomachs were still churning with food. As they squeezed themselves into the silent hollow, a wave of nostalgia washed over them.

The hollow was exactly the way the left it on the beautiful morning two days prior. The nest was clean and tidy, and a few stray feathers lay entrenched among the twigs.

"Ahhh," sighed Blu lovingly. "Home... sweet home..."

"Indeed, my love-hawk! Let's make it official, shall we?"

She whirled him around and kissed him – with a certain restraint due to their offspring's presence – but the rush still left him woozy.

"There!" stated Jewel. "Now we're back where we belong, next to the birds we love, and may that never change."

"Never, honey. We have our lives to live, children to embrace, and friends to enjoy. Decades from now, when we're old and frail, we'll look back on this day and say, 'We did it.' We walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and we made it out alive. We emerged not weaker, but stronger."

"You and mother took the most dreadful of situations and converted it into the most enthralling of occasions. You merely confirmed what countless individuals, both human and otherwise, have experienced. Love is eternal, a ceaseless pact that lingers even past the turmoil of death. You and mother will never be split apart. That's how it was meant to be..."

Esperanza's eloquent speech left them stunned, and they all knew from who she had acquired such talent.

"I do believe our daughter is the result of incredibly refined breeding, honey. She possesses your beauty and my studious brain. A most favorable combination, if I do say so myself."

"And there's nothing wrong with that..."

Esperanza beamed and hugged her two brothers, and their parents shared a second liquefying kiss.

They all hugged and exchanged the simple phrase of "I love you," and yet that phrase was so much more than that. Esperanza's words served to define the deeper meaning of the entity known as "love."

It was indeed eternal and transcended all barriers. It was indeed a pact that could not be broken, a diamond of an oath that was immune to the trials of life.

The quintet of macaws launched themselves into the petal-filled air of the jungle, basking in the sounds of hundreds of enchanted birds and the scents of the ambrosial atmosphere.

They danced and flew about for hours on end; this was their heaven, and they showed no intention of letting it go to waste.

They carved illusory spirals, loops, and waves into the air, and several families of macaws joined in the frolic as well.

Who knew that two rare macaws and their children, who had been separated by a rift of agony and horror, could unite so peacefully and seal that rift with the cables of love?

One thing was for certain: Blu, Jewel, Ricardo, Esperanza, and Vicente knew, and they were living that discovery to the fullest...

* * *

><p>In time Jewel discovered - with a mix of uncertainty and charm – that she was indeed pregnant.<p>

Two weeks following the reunion of her and her family, the gnawing hunger and mood swings returned. She invested a herculean effort to keep them under control, for she did not want jeopardize the recovery of Blu's eye should her anger break free from its chains.

Blu took care of her with unflinching loyalty, a loyalty fit for a king and his most esteemed knights.

She produced two innocent, blue-speckled white eggs, and she nurtured them as only a proud mother could.

Blu and Jewel each cooked up several names for the chicks, giving them some leeway when they discovered the gender of the chicks.

Ten days after the eggs were laid, the naked, pink blobs hatched out and were divined to be a male and a female. A surge of raw emotion gripped the family, and Blu and Jewel's three oldest children stopped by shortly after that momentous event.

Blu and Jewel's more distant relatives, like the two toucans and the cardinal and canary, caught wind of the news, and they too paid visits.

They did not know the mass of secrets that lay behind the chicks' origins, and Blu and Jewel were hotly divided as to if those secrets should be made known. Ultimately, during the time that the first tiny feathers emerged on the chicks' bodies, they resolved to spill those secrets once their babies had fully fledged.

A tense week after the hatching, the true appearances of the Spix's Macaw/Lear's Macaw hybrids became known.

The male – who was deemed Natanael, meaning "whom God gave" - bore deep blue feathers shrouding his entire form from head to tail, the color of pure sapphires.

His wings were patterned with alternating dark and light feathers, and when he stretched them out during a yawn, the decoration was marvelous. His eyes were the truest emerald green conceivable, and it melted the hearts of all who peered into them.

His sister – who was given the name Catarina, meaning "pure" - was an exact mirror of her brother, save for his eyes and wings. Her body was clothed in feathers tinted like the sky during an Arctic sunrise.

Beyond their physical appearances, the two birds were alike in so many ways, and different in so many ways. Their true natures and strengths had yet to be uncovered, but both Blu and Jewel knew that they would undoubtedly please them.

They graciously taught the chicks how to fly, and once their stubby wings could hold them aloft, they paid Linda and Tulio a much-anticipated visit.

The two humans were enthralled by the little hybrids, and Tulio asked them if he could run some tests on them once they were older. Blu and Jewel agreed wholeheartedly.

In the time span from the laying of the eggs to the day of the aviary visit – whenever Blu could scrounge up some free time – he carefully made his way to Tulio in accordance with his examination schedule.

The gauze was replaced regularly, and Blu's scratched cornea had improved noticeably.

Today, while Jewel and the little ones were cavorting with Linda, Blu underwent his final ocular checkup. The soft gauze was removed, and Tulio inspected Blu's eye with a magnifying glass.

He nearly knocked the macaw from the counter-top in his excitement!

The eyelid stayed open, and when Tulio gave the macaw simple unilateral vision tests, Blu's vision was confirmed to have been restored.

He grabbed the macaw – in a manner unfit for a decorated ornithologist such as Tulio – and placed him down next to his mate and step-children.

A short chain of simple squawks resounded, and Blu was immediately assaulted by the female in her unbridled elation. His gift of sight had been restored, and although the eyelid scars still remained, all was well with him.

The four macaws remained at the aviary well into the evening hours, overcome with too much positive emotion to leave.

The smile of the moon hanging on the horizon ultimately forced them to say goodbye, and the two chicks looked ready to fall asleep where they stood. The macaws left through the flap in the front door and made a beeline for home.

Once they got settled down in their nest – with Natanael and Catarina safely tucked between their bodies – the veil of sleep blinded them all in mere minutes.

* * *

><p>They were all cast into one interconnected dream, and in that luscious dream-scape, they played and danced and enjoyed each other's company.<p>

Regardless of their origins or their appearances, their genes or their personalities, they were here to stay.

They were Blu and Jewel's children through and through.

They were loved and treasured and cherished by their parents, and Catarina and Natanael returned that swirl of emotions with as much energy as their tiny bodies could muster.

They could love and be loved, and that was all that mattered...

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, that completes this lovely and alluring work of M-Rated seduction.**

**I intended for this update to be short, so I just wanted to let you all know. Writing 6500k+ word chapters takes loads of time and effort.**

**I have an amazing Rio fanfcition coming up next week (hopefully), and I intend for it to be my magnum opus and quite possibly my final Fanfiction story for Rio.**

**No spoilers, however. You'll just have to wait and see it when it arrives.**

**See you soon, guys.**

**\m/ O.O \m/**


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